Fragmented Gaze
by Sparkling-Iris
Summary: Indefinite hiatus. Shortly after completing Skyview temple, a progression of disturbing events break out in Skyloft, and it isn't long before Link figures out who's behind them. But even when his plans go awry, Link can't understand why his enemy continues to keep him alive. Link/Ghirahim. Plot!Fic.
1. Return

**A/N: Hi, thanks for clicking on my story! :)**

**Things you should know before reading:  
-Rated M for violence/sexual content in later chapters  
-Contains dark/disturbing themes  
-Pairing: Ghirahim/Link [GhiraLink] (yaoi, M/M, slash, etc.)**

***Please read at your own discretion. Thanks!***

**Context: This is a plot!fic that begins and branches off shortly after completing Skyview Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It's written in Link's POV, past tense.**

**Disclaimer: Nintendo owns TLoZ.**

**Enjoy, and feel free to leave a review afterwards!**

/

__Part I: Chapter I____  
__

__~Return~__

/

"Finally back…" I muttered to myself as I arrived back at Skyloft. I landed on the plaza and let my crimson loftwing fly off after a small pat on its beak.

A few bright red feathers drifted down around me as the bird circled high above my head, then glided away over the clouds that surrounded the suspended island.

I turned back and rubbed my eyes tiredly. My body felt sore and exhausted.

After finishing up in Skyview Temple and acquiring the Ruby Tablet, I was finally able to return home – at least for a bit. For the past few days, I'd been staying on the Surface with subpar living conditions, and the prospects of sleeping in an actual bed once again were looking up.

I started heading towards the Knight's Academy, too tired to appreciate the good weather. I could feel a light breeze, the liquid golden warmth from the sun, but getting some sleep was the main thing on my mind.

Ever since I'd started my quest to save my childhood friend Zelda, I hadn't had much time to rest, or even much time for myself for that matter.

"Hey! Link! I was looking for you." A voice jostled me out of my thoughts.

I turned around to see a girl with red hair and a similar green knight's outfit approaching me from the plaza. Her hair was slightly windswept from being out with her loftwing.

"Hey, Karane," I said, attempting a smile that obviously was pretty weak, judging by her reaction.

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just tired, I guess."

"Anyway, I was looking for you. There's something important I wanted to talk to you about…I mean, I haven't even seen you recently."

I brushed away some strands of dirty blonde hair that had fallen over my eyes. "What is it?"

Karane paused and crossed her arms over her chest, leaning a bit closer. She lowered her voice. "Have you noticed anything weird around here recently?"

That was unexpected. I shook my head, "Like what?"

She straightened up and looked around in a pseudo nonchalant manner that didn't quite cut it.

"Oh, I don't know…like…people acting strangely…things getting stolen – Look, I don't know. Stuff like that. So, have you?"

"Er…" I paused awkwardly. I hadn't noticed anything strange, probably because I'd been away for a while, and was so busy lately that I was hardly noticing anything about anyone.

I felt a bit guilty, but it couldn't be helped. It wasn't like anybody else could save Zelda, and ever since she went missing, I hadn't really thought about much else _besides_ saving her. "Sorry, no, I haven't. Why? Did something happen?"

She furrowed her brows, "Nah, never mind then. You'll probably find out soon enough. I just wanted to know if you knew anything about what's been happening recently."

"How has…the…stuff…been going on?"

Karane thought for a moment, "I think since," she paused, "yesterday? Or the day before that? I'd have to go check – I have it written down somewhere."

"I wasn't here yesterday. Or the day before that." Or a few days before that.

A look of understanding crossed her face. "_Oh_, so _that's _why I couldn't find you anywhere…Well, anyway, if you come across anything out of the ordinary, just let me know. Pipit said he's going to investigate or something, but to be honest, he's not the only one."

I stifled a laugh, forcing my expression into one of mild interest instead. _Investigate_, right. Pipit was always trying to take charge with everything.

None of us were detectives.

"So what sort of stuff should I be looking out for?"

The red-haired girl scuffed her boot clad feet on the ground and frowned slightly, "Stuff like..."

Her voice trailed off and when she didn't continue, I prompted her, "Like?"

"I don't know. Just anything or anyone that seems unusual. I don't want to give away too many details, because I don't want to creep you out, but some people have been acting off lately and some scary stuff happened and…it's just felt different ever since."

I nodded vaguely. "Um, yeah, sure thing."

Regardless of what had happened, I could find out more tomorrow. Right now, I just felt like returning to my room at the Knight's Academy, where I could finally get some much-needed rest.

If I really thought about it, I did feel _something_, though. It was probably just Karane's words getting to me.

"By the way, how's your loftwing doing?" she suddenly asked.

"Fine," I replied automatically, taken aback by the question. How did my loftwing have anything to do with this conversation? I shrugged, "Um, well, I guess I'll see you later then…?"

"Yeah, see ya." She gave me a faintly suspicious nod, then started to walk back towards the plaza.

She'd barely taken two steps before she stopped walking and looked over her shoulder with concerned eyes. "Just be careful, okay?"

I blinked once. "Yeah, of course. You, too?"

She nodded again, this time with a small smile.

When Karane began walking away and didn't turn around again, I shook my head to myself and then continued heading back to the Knight's Academy, not running into anybody else on the way.

I wished I knew what had happened to make her so paranoid. Was it a specific event, or more than one, or perhaps a continuous thing?

It wasn't as if I was unobservant or anything, so if something weird was going on, I liked to think that I would have noticed. Then again, ever since I found out that it was my duty to save Zelda, I had been somewhat distanced from everyone else, a bit too caught up in my own responsibilities.

I sighed. Thinking like this was only counterproductive.

By now, I'd reached the academy. Finally, I could sleep in my own bed tonight.

I turned the handle on the door to my room and pushed it open, stepping inside.

The familiar room greeted me; the low window that rays of warm sunlight would stream through, the green quilted bed, the quaint wooden pieces of furniture, the faded orange area rug.

Oddly enough, I didn't feel nearly as relaxed as I usually felt when I was in my room. If I was being honest, I mostly felt uneasy and wary than before.

I closed the door behind me, eyes inadvertently scanning the room more carefully; suspiciously, as though searching for abnormalities.

Damn it, Karane.

Because of everything she'd said, my own paranoia had set in.

"Fi?" I said quietly.

The sword spirit emerged from the goddess sword that was still sheathed on my back. She gazed at me with blank eyes, her lithe body floating delicately a few inches above the wooden floor.

"Yes, Master Link?" Her voice chimed out softly with a bell-like quality.

"You heard all that stuff Karane was saying, right?" Fi nodded, so I continued, "Was she just making it up?

Fi paused, as though analysing data.

"I cannot be certain at this time. However, Karane did not lie."

"Okay…"

Fi nodded again and then vanished once more into the sword before giving me a strange, careful look that I couldn't decipher.

Even though I sensed that something was off, it was probably best to just leave it be for now.

I proceeded to strip off most of my items and clothes until I was mainly just in my long-sleeved white undershirt and my pants.

Afterwards, I put all my supplies in a neat pile on the ground by my desk, leaving the Ruby Tablet near the top so that I'd see it and remember to put in the goddess statue come tomorrow.

As I knelt down to sift through my items to gather some loose Rupees together, I bumped into the corner of the table slightly, wincing slightly. My side was throbbing faintly, where I had gotten an injury on the Surface.

Straightening up, I carefully lifted up the corner of my undershirt to let my fingers trace over a faintly ridged scar that ran along my left side, over the hip.

It hadn't completely healed yet, even after using a heart potion, and it was discolored with a dusty shade of pink. The skin was more irritated since I'd bumped into the table just now, but I was glad that it hadn't broken through the already delicate skin again.

I found it a bit surprising how deep the wound that caused it had been, and even more surprising that the heart potion hadn't fully headed it, but I supposed I had to get stronger to prevent stuff like this from happening in the future.

It definitely was more trouble than it was worth. It was way better to be prepared.

Because the injury had been inflicted with a blade while I was wearing my tunic, chainmail and undershirt, there was a tear in each clothing article, as well. It wasn't like they were in dire need of repair, but I'd have to get around to mending it at some point.

I had already replaced my undershirt with one of my many spares, but I only had one extra tunic, which I had stored away.

Come to think of it, I'd probably have to get that mended in order to preserve the other. It wasn't as though I could be getting extra tunics all the time.

As for the chainmail, I only had one set, so I would definitely have to get that repaired eventually…

The tip of my pointer finger pressed slightly at the scar. It still felt sensitive, and I grimaced when I remembered how painful the injury that inflicted it had been.

When I had been nearing the end of Skyview Temple, I'd run into a strange person…rather, self-proclaimed demon lord.

His name didn't really stick in my head since I was fixated on saving Zelda, but I did remember that it was strange, unique; maybe because he was a demon, or so he said. He didn't seem the type that I could trust anyways.

When I thought about it now, I was certain that I'd never met anyone like him before, but nonetheless, I didn't like the way he was talking about Zelda, and to me, that was all that mattered.

He was clearly not on my side, and it all went to say that I got a bad cut on my side after he attacked me...well, after I inadvertently provoked him to attack me, as I was the first to draw my weapon.

Luckily, I had been able to fend him off well enough, and eventually he left me alone. Still, I had the uncanny feeling that I would meet him again one day. Hopefully I'd be more skilled by then.

I grimaced again as I put too much pressure on the scar without thinking, withdrawing my hand immediately. I glanced down at the scar once more. Irritation prickled at my skin. I should have been more careful at the time.

A soft, almost inaudible, yet somehow familiar – _mocking_ – laugh followed my actions, and I whirled around in alarm.

My eyes instinctively darted from one corner of the room to the other, but there wasn't anything unusual to see.

"Fi, _hey_!" I called softly, "Did you hear that?"

She twirled out of the goddess sword which I had laid down on the ground at the foot of my bed earlier. It was still in its sheath, next to my shield.

"Had you heard something, Master?" she inquired.

"I thought I did. Like, a laugh or something."

She shook her head after a brief moment of hesitation. "No, I did not. I believe that what you heard was coming from outside of your room."

"But I'm pretty sure I –" I broke off mid-sentence. I wasn't 'pretty sure'. The more I thought about it, the less likely it seemed that I'd heard anything at all.

"You are tired, Master. I suggest that you rest."

I frowned doubtfully. Fi wasn't telling me something, but I could let it slide. "Yeah, I guess I should."

With one last wary glance around the room, I went and shut the small window, casting the area into shadows, and then sprawled out on the bed, too tired to get under the blankets. I tried and failed to dispel my uneasiness.

Fi was about to return to the goddess sword when I stopped her instinctively. "Fi?"

"Yes, Master?"

Her voice blended in with the faint sound of the breeze outside and the overall quietness of the room.

"…Nothing." I was just being stupid again.

Karane's words really had spooked me. I had never thought I was one to take such things so seriously, nor had I believed Karane to, either.

"It is advisable that you rest up before tomorrow," Fi said once more.

With slight annoyance, I sat up. She wasn't being helpful at all.

It was then that something dawned on me. I hadn't seen many other Skyloftians today. I propped myself up on my elbows. "Wait, where is everyone?"

"I sense that most of Skyloft's population is near the Bazaar or outside."

"Are there any people inside this building? Besides me?" If there weren't, that would be a bit unusual, but I guess that would explain the excessive silence.

"No, there are not, Master."

"Why?"

There was a pause. "Allow me to evaluate the situation. It will only take a moment."

"Okay, go ahead," I permitted.

I exhaled softly. So maybe Karane was right. Maybe there were some strange things going on. At this time of day, good weather or not, the academy was seldom deserted.

What made things worse was that I didn't feel like I was really, truly alone, yet Fi had just told me that nobody else was in the building.

The idea was downright ridiculous, but I felt as though there were invisible eyes watching me.

Finally, after what felt like forever, Fi spoke up again, "Most Skyloftians are in the more central sectors of Skyloft due to a collective unrest."

I ran a hand through my hair, wincing slightly when my fingers caught on the small blue earrings that I hadn't bothered to remove, even though I probably should have. "Unrest?"

"Because of several events that occurred over the past few days, it is probable that they are monitoring other's behavior for abnormalities," Fi replied instantly.

"Everyone really _is_ playing detective. It's not just Pipit," I laughed dryly.

Just what exactly had happened, though?

"I am not certain of the exact events that occurred," Fi responded. "I will have to look into it further." I frowned slightly until I realized that I had spoken my last thought out loud.

"Okay, thanks for telling me."

"You're welcome, Master Link." She was just about to vanish into the goddess sword when I stopped her for the second time.

"Um, wait, I just have another question."

I looked to my left, where Fi was now hovering. "Yes?"

"Are you sure that I'm alone or were you just…saying that to reassure me?"

A pause longer than usual greeted my words and gave me the answer that I was looking for.

I looked up at Fi carefully, searching for any evidence of guilt at lying to me earlier, but found nothing. Her expression remained just as blank as usual.

I tried to reword my question. "Is, uh…is there someone else here? Or near here?"

She hesitated again, and gave one nod. "Yes, there is a 78% chance of another being in the vicinity. However, I cannot identify the exact location or access any specific data as to who it is. At the moment, I advise you to rest. There does not appear to be any current danger."

Despite what she said, an unsettling sensation washed over me at the verbal confirmation.

I'd been secretly hoping that my suspicions were wrong, but now I knew that they weren't. Maybe this was the real reason why I felt so unsettled.

I hadn't really identified it earlier, but if I really thought back on it, all day I'd been feeling a bit off, but I had just ignored it and passed it off as fatigue.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I looked at the sword spirit, who was still floating beside my bed. In the darkness, her body produced an ethereal blue glow that illuminated most of the room. My skin looked pale in the light, like porcelain; breakable.

She bowed. "I apologize, Master Link, however there was over a 50% probability that you would feel more restless if you were aware of this beforehand. I would have certainly informed you if I observed there to be any threats."

"Oh."

I never thought she would think to do something like that, and I didn't like the idea of her hiding important information from me. "Next time, could you let me know either way?" _If there is a next time._

"Of course, Master."

"Um, just one last thing," I added, "Is this 'being' actually…_in_ this room? Does it have anything to do with me, or is it just all a coincidence?"

Goddess, please don't be.

"I cannot be specific due to various issues. It is challenging to track, Master, but I do not know enough about the entity to discern whether it presents a threat or not. Additionally, I cannot determine its intentions. For now, I suggest that you rest, for there is little to be done about it presently."

That had to be the fifth or sixth time she'd told me to rest.

But putting that aside, if I was guessing right, everyone was out today because they wanted to observe everyone else's behavior since they were suspicious, and yet, from what I gathered, the actual 'weird thing' was here – if it was indeed related to what Karane had been talking about.

Moreover, if Fi couldn't identify it, then it seemed very unlikely that _anyone_ would be able to.

I only hoped that Fi's percentages were wrong, because if there really was someone or something nearby, I didn't want to consider the reason or motivation behind their actions.

What I wanted most was to be able to identify the presence because it felt creepily familiar.

But no matter how much I tried, I just couldn't quite recall who or what it could be.

"Okay, I'll go to sleep," I breathed out, hating how I still felt so shaken.

She nodded and disappeared into the goddess sword, the light that emanated from her vanishing as well, leaving the room in almost complete darkness. Only traces of light came into the room from the small crack under my door and around the window shutter.

Once again, the silence bore down on me, suffocating and thick. It felt like a prison.

I exhaled heavily, then instinctively chewed on my bottom lip like I always did when I was uncomfortable.

If Fi didn't think that there was anything to worry about right now, then there likely wasn't, but it didn't stop me from feeling uneasy.

_She's never given me bad advice before,_ I reminded myself. I could figure out what the problem was in the morning after I'd finished up my other business here in Skyloft.

I lay back down, pulling the covers away and sliding underneath them, now feeling almost naked when uncovered. It felt as though the darkness was compressing around me, and I felt blind.

The thin, faint streaks of light that permeated the darkness seemed to fade and dim, as though losing their resolve to brighten the room. If I weren't so nervous, I would probably be able to find sleep more easily and ignore the lurking presence.

_If Fi says there's no current threat, then…_

I just hoped that things would calm down in Skyloft soon enough; I had enough to deal with already.

But I did wish that I could figure out why that invisible gaze felt so familiar.


	2. Missing

**Disclaimer: Nintendo owns TLoZ.**

/

_Part I: Chapter II_

_~Missing~_

/

"M…st…r Li…"

The words started out quiet and muffled. I turned over at the sound of a faint voice, moving away from its source. It was nice and warm here, and my head felt fuzzy with drowsiness. I didn't feel like being woken up yet.

"Ma…t…r, wa…up."

I tried unsuccessfully to block out the noise.

"Master Link, you must wake up."

I groaned irritably, but nonetheless, sat up and blinked my eyes open groggily. I stared dully around my room.

The morning light was streaming in through the window, casting out white-golden rays. It made me squint. Fi must have opened the shutter to try and wake me up.

"Hey, Fi," I mumbled, combing my fingers through my hair absently as I caught sight of the blue sword spirit floating nearby. She nodded a greeting in that emotionless manner of hers. "Nothing happened while I was sleeping?"

A shake of the head. "There were no other disturbances, although I can report that the entity that was sensed in the vicinity had vanished either temporarily or permanently soon after midnight. I apologize, but I could not track where it went."

I shrugged. "That's okay."

She gave a small motion of acknowledgement before disappearing into the goddess sword, wearing a strange expression that looked as though she wanted to say something, but didn't. I could always ask her about it later today.

I sighed softly, trying to sense for any other presences, but not noticing anything unusual. Thank Farore.

If whatever it was just disappeared for good, then I could focus all my energy on rescuing Zelda instead. That was my top priority.

I reached above my head and stretched out the stiffness in my back and arms. I had a lot of things to do today.

It didn't take long for me to get something to eat and then clean up afterwards, thankfully not feeling any watchful eyes following me.

It was nice to run into some other people at the Knight's Academy as well. They did seem a bit shaken, for whatever reason, but from what I could tell, nobody was acting as strangely as what Karane had hinted at yesterday. Just vaguely nervous. Not that I could blame them.

Ever since feeling that weird presence yesterday, I felt a bit uneasy as well.

Upon passing the yellow-clad knight Pipit in the hallway on my way back to my room, he mentioned that he was going to look into what's been going on here – whatever that was exactly – but besides that, he acted pretty normally, too.

If I just ignored that strange feeling I got yesterday, then it could have been a typical day in Skyloft...unless I was missing something.

When I returned to my room, I went straight to the pile of supplies I'd left out near my desk and knelt down to sort through it all.

It wasn't exactly exciting stuff, but before I did anything, I always had to make sure that I brought everything I needed, and now was no exception.

Throughout my quest, I had already accumulated a lot of stuff that was pretty useless at the moment, like the many amber relics that I'd picked up. Those were the sorts of things that could stay here.

I picked up a half-empty glass bottle, the blood red heart potion sloshing around inside it.

I'd probably take one of these for now and restock later. I was sure that half a bottle would do if I was careful and didn't go injuring myself foolishly.

I didn't use any other types of potions as much, anyway, so it would be redundant to take others. Besides, based on taste, heart potions were the best, and they were all-around useful. I had actually had a bit of one today just to make sure that my side wound healed a bit more. It was just a faint scar now.

My tunic was still slightly torn, but it wasn't too noticeable, considering I'd washed the blood out of it when I was still on the Surface. My extra tunic was packed away. It wasn't like I was going to go through the trouble of switching out of this one…

A few moments later, I pushed aside a bunch of useless items, and made a face. _Ugh_, I hated carrying too much stuff with me.

Even though my adventure pouch could carry it all somehow, it was just tiring to have to sift through everything just to find one item, like I was doing now, even if being fully supplied was convenient and probably better than being understocked.

"Ruby Tablet…Ruby Tablet…Where is it?" I was mumbling under my breath as I impatiently tossed aside the slightly crumpled Skyview Temple dungeon map in my search.

It was soon joined by my slingshot, the beetle contraption, and the sailcloth. I moved aside a few more items.

"…And I remember leaving it here, too…" I continued.

A few deku seeds and some Rupees scattered on the floor as I moved the other objects around, looking for the tablet that I'd worked so hard to attain.

_Goddess_, I'd spent so much time on the Surface and in Skyview Temple just to get this one tablet.

It was only a few moments later that I realized it wasn't there with my other things.

I mentally groaned as I leaned back on my hands and looked at what used to be a neat pile of items. I curled my fingers into the faded rug underneath me. "Where the hell is it?"

A thorough search of my room was in order, but I didn't even bother since I had the distinct feeling that I wouldn't find the much needed tablet anywhere. I breathed out exasperatedly.

Had I just imagined putting it with my other stuff? Or had I misplaced it somewhere? Had I even bothered to take it with me from the Skyview Spring in the first place?!

No, that would be beyond careless, and Fi would have mentioned something if I'd forgotten it somewhere, or if I'd lost it at some point.

Biting my lip to stop yet another frustrated sigh from escaping, I glanced back at the foot of my bed where the goddess sword was resting. I owed Fi so much at this point that I didn't really want to ask her for help, but it just didn't seem likely that anybody else would be very useful. Nobody else would even know what I was looking for or what it looked like.

Resigned, I decided that I should just ask for help.

"…Fi, do you know where the Ruby Tablet is? I can't find it," I asked tiredly as adjusted my gauntlets. When I'd slipped them on quickly this morning, I hadn't bothered tightening them as much as I usually did.

There was a long pause.

I flexed my fingers to test the grip before I got to my feet. I used my boot clad foot to lightly kick some of the items together so that they wouldn't take up so much space, and in a mediocre attempt to return the pile of supplies to its former neatness. It didn't do much good.

"Fi?" I looked up from my still scattered items, expecting to see the sword spirit twirl out of the goddess sword like normal, but much to my confusion, nothing happened.

My gaze drifted lower, until I was looking at my scabbard…which was utterly and devastatingly _empty_.

Eyes widening in alarm, I tried calling her again, "Fi!?"

There was no response, which I should have expected, and it was suddenly painfully obvious that she wasn't there. The entire sword was missing.

Silence ensued as I stared at the empty sheath.

Half of it was blocked from the sun by the foot of my bed, while the rest of it was in the light, the rays bouncing off of its metallic golden and blue surface. Regardless of how nice a scabbard it was, it was definitely nothing without a sword.

I bent my knees until I was crouching, almost as low as I was sitting just a few moments ago. I looked back at where the sheath was.

No wonder I hadn't noticed earlier.

From my angle when I was sitting, I couldn't see that the goddess sword wasn't there because the footboard of the bed was blocking the view, so I only saw the end of the sheath. When I'd walked into my room, I probably wasn't looking in that direction anyways.

Besides, I never would have expected it to go missing.

I sat on the ground again, leaning against the leg of my desk. I bent my right knee and brought my arm around it, trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

The Ruby Tablet, which was vital to the progression in my quest, was missing, and now the goddess sword and Fi were missing, too.

And to think that everything seemed to be fine just a few moments ago. It wasn't until I'd entered my room again – after the short time it took for me to eat and wash up – that everything took a turn for the worse.

I couldn't have been gone for long, either.

Mentally berating myself for leaving the goddess sword here alone, I forced myself to get up once more. Sulking wasn't going to help.

I looped my adventure pouch to my belt after packing the minimum necessary items in it, leaving my empty scabbard and shield behind. I wasn't planning on leaving Skyloft today.

I certainly wasn't going to return to the Surface anytime soon if I couldn't even find Fi. She was my guide, and she knew much more than I did about the world below.

If I couldn't figure out where she'd gone soon, I might have to abort my quest altogether, or venture into the unknown without her help. I knew that I'd probably choose the latter. There was no way I'd abandon my journey to save Zelda, even if I had to go alone.

Just as I was about to leave my room, a faint sound caught my attention. I stalled, glancing back, one hand resting on the door knob.

It sounded vaguely like a footstep, but I couldn't be sure. I scrutinized the room for a few more seconds before turning back to the door warily.

Something that felt eerily like the sensation of a hand brushing along my shoulder made me flinch terribly.

Heart pounding, I whipped around instinctively, going to draw my sword, but realizing – right hand already poised – that I didn't have it with me. I didn't even have my scabbard or my shield strapped on.

Unable to do much more, I surveyed the room, but, as I'd already predicted, there was nobody there.

With irritation, I left my room and started to head back to see Pipit.

He knew best about what happened in the Knight's Academy, since he was a senior and he patrolled around here often, so he was the one to ask for help.

I was certain now that somebody had to have been in my room earlier. For some reason, I doubted that the lingering 'presence' had been the one to take both the sword and the Ruby Tablet.

The likelihood that I had misplaced the goddess sword _and_ the tablet was slim, so the only other possibility was that someone had taken them.

Whether the person in question just chanced upon taking those two particular items, or whether they deliberately did, was debateable.

If they _did_ know that those were the two most important things I owned right now, then they must have been out to sabotage my quest. If not, then it was just an unlucky coincidence.

Suddenly, as I turned down the hallway towards where I'd last seen Pipit, I found myself running into someone.

"Agh!"

The other person made a shocked sound as I collided into them. I somehow managed to stay standing, but the other Skyloftian wasn't so lucky.

They stumbled, trying to catch their footing, and I extended a hand to help them get up after they fell to the ground clumsily.

The other's eyes widened. His startled gaze locked on my hand as though it was a weapon pointed at his throat. I frowned, "Fledge?"

He looked up at me with frightened eyes that made me wonder just what exactly I had done to invoke this reaction.

"Um…Are you okay?" I tried again after a lack of response.

"Oh!" He jumped to his feet awkwardly when he realized I was expecting an answer, picking up a bunch of green fabric that he'd dropped with a muffled thump. For some reason, the green bundle had landed rather heavily on the ground.

He hastily stuffed it behind his back before I could figure out what it was. "Uh, y-yeah! I'm fine!"

I nodded, trying not to show my incredulity. Was this what Karane meant by 'acting strangely'? I shook the thought away. Fledge was always high strung and nervous. This was normal for him.

"…Are you sure?"

"Er, yeah! I, uh, I'm fine, Link!" He nodded back vigorously, voice faltering halfway and only enforcing my suspicion.

I started to speak again, "Is something wr-"

"I'll see you later, then, Link!" He quickly interjected, cutting me off and continuing on his way, practically running past me and through the door that led outside.

I blinked once. That was really unusual.

_Maybe he was the one who-_

No.

I stopped the thought before it could fully form. Fledge would never do something like that. It wasn't even possible. He wasn't that kind of person.

Besides, how would he know to take the goddess sword and the Ruby Tablet anyways? If he were to steal something, it seemed more likely that he would go after something like the Rupees.

And he wasn't good with a sword, so what use would taking the goddess sword be to him?

The Ruby Tablet didn't look that impressive either. It was quite plain-looking, deceivingly so. It only had a small reddish ruby embedded into it; the rest of it was a plain beige color with some shallow engravings. It wasn't particularly eye-catching.

_No, it couldn't have been him, _I mentally repeated.

I continued heading through the hallway until I came to the classroom where I knew Karane usually was, the feeling from earlier having dissipated momentarily. I could check to see if Pipit was there, and if not, it wouldn't hurt to talk to Karane.

I had promised to tell her if I noticed anything strange.

The sound of people talking reached my ears as I neared the classroom, and I found my pace slowing when I noticed the ambiguously tense quality in the tone.

I recognized Karane's voice, and Pipit's, but also someone else's. It sounded like one of the academy instructors, Horwell. I stopped walking and found myself listening in near the doorway, just out of sight from anyone inside the class.

I knew that it would be really hard to explain what I was doing if I got caught, not to mention that it was definitely childish, but it was just so strange to have all three of them in the same place at this time of day. And seemingly arguing, too. I wasn't about to pass this up.

There weren't classes at this time here, either, so this definitely wasn't some sort of lesson.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I already mentioned it to him, but he said he wasn't here," Karane was saying impatiently.

"So where was he, then?" Pipit countered.

Horwell's voice came next, "He's been very busy recently, and I'm afraid I can't give you any of the details right now."

It only took me a few seconds before I realized that they were talking about me.

"Yes, I'm aware of that…" Pipit sounded like he was trying to keep his composure. "I just have to be certain that it's not him that's behind this."

_That I'm not behind what?_ I found myself unwillingly taking offence at the indirect accusation.

"Pipit, Link has nothing to do with this. He said he'd been away for a few days," Karane said. "When I told him that there were strange things happening, he only looked confused like it was the first he'd heard of it."

"I believe Karane is right," Horwell affirmed, "And I think he has enough on his plate as it is without causing trouble here. He doesn't have the time to do that, nor does he have any reason to."

There were a few sounds of agreement before I heard Karane's voice again. "Look, I just wish I knew what was going on."

"Me, too," Pipit sighed. "It's just that ever since…well, I guess since all those bombs were stolen from the Bazaar, weird things have been happening. I can't remember anything similar happening before that, unless you count Zelda going missing, but that's confidential information anyways."

The entire supply of bombs was stolen from the Bazaar? So that was it? _That_ was what was freaking everyone out?

I raised an eyebrow incredulously. No, it had to be something else.

"The bombs getting stolen has nothing to do with Link, and although it seems likely, we can't yet confirm that it's related to the other things happening here," Horwell interjected.

There was a resigned-sounding sigh from one of them, but I couldn't tell who.

Karane spoke next as I heard the sound of rustling paper and pages turning.

"Look here, I've documented each of the events. Also, we'll need to keep some sort of file that records this information for reference later. I'm guessing that Headmaster Gaepora will want to look into this sometime. Do you want me to go through it?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Pipit replied.

"So," she started, "Two days ago, sometime in the early morning before the Bazaar opened, the supply of bombs were stolen. They just vanished without a trace – But you knew that. Then a bit later, I'm sure you heard, those two loftwings were killed…" Her voice trailed off dejectedly, and it bothered me that Karane, who was usually so confident and spirited, sounded so morose. "You would've definitely found out about that. It happened sometime in the late afternoon, shortly after the last junior flying classes ended."

I could now hear the quiet sound of pacing, the steady, calm intervals between the steps indicated that it was probably Horwell. Pipit and Karane seemed a bit too anxious to walk that deliberately.

"Continue," Horwell urged her. "If we look at this information, it's likely that we'll find some sort of pattern or clue that will lead us to the person behind all of it."

"Yeah, just a second –" More rustling paper. "– Okay, here it is. I have more details on the loftwing incident. They were both found at the plaza, but not at the same time. One was found at around six in the afternoon, the other at around eight in the evening. But judging by the wounds, the first one was probably killed at five, the other at maybe seven thirty. They had been stabbed in multiple places by maybe a sword or another sharp weapon. I'm not positive on that, though. I didn't go close up to their bodies, because I heard that they could have contracted diseases. But I know that there were no injuries to their vitals."

The image the description conjured in my head made me grimace in revulsion.

I couldn't imagine who here would kill a loftwing, or for that matter, two. And I didn't see why anyone would want to, either. Loftwings were sort of sacred to us. But this sounded like killing for sport. No wonder Karane had asked me if my loftwing was okay yesterday.

At least now I could see why people were so anxious. As for Fledge's behavior, I could sort of understand it better now.

Knowing him, he was probably freaking out about whether I was the one who killed the loftwings or something crazy like that. Despite how he used to trust me, having something like this happen, which was completely unheard of until recently, must have rattled his nerves. The fact that I was away for the past few days would have heightened his suspicions, along with everybody else's.

"…Do you think that whatever killed them wanted them to suffer?" Pipit asked, his voice subdued.

"It seems likely…" Horwell confirmed. "I haven't told you two this, but there is a lot of evidence that suggests that the killer of the loftwings was indeed a human, and not another creature. I was discussing it with Instructor Owlan, who closely examined the bodies. He said he discovered that the lacerations were inflicted in _exactly the same places_ for each. I won't go into too much detail, but the injuries were _definitely_ caused by some sort of blade. If the loftwings had been treated immediately after the incident, they could have been saved."

I bit on my bottom lip. So this was more than just a random occurrence.

Never before had a loftwing been deliberately killed by a person. There were records of people losing control of their birds and having collisions, or coming across other dangerous creatures, resulting in both of their deaths, but this wasn't the same.

There was a long, oppressive silence before anyone spoke again, and I had to force myself not to bite at my lip anymore, as I could taste the faint tang of blood on my tongue.

Finally, Karane broke the silence, "Should I keep reading?"

Horwell sighed wearily, as though part of him didn't want her to.

"Yes, please continue. I need to make sure we have all of our facts straight. We're still not completely certain that these events are related."

"Okay, so the next thing isn't a specific event. There have been a lot of people saying that they've felt a weird presence every now and then. We can't _really_ count that as solid evidence," Karane added. "I think that everyone's just kind of paranoid now, and they're convincing themselves of things that aren't true."

"Probably. Everyone's suspicious now. It's only natural," Pipit reasoned.

"Yeah," she agreed, "And then after that, there was that butterfly thing, which was clearly done by a human." I heard her shudder.

"Butterfly thing?" Horwell interrupted. "I hadn't been informed of that."

His pacing stopped and Pipit's voice followed. "Nobody likes to talk about it, so it's been kept quiet. There were about ten Blessed Butterflies that were found dead. They were pinned to-"

"-Link's door," Karane completed.

Nausea rose in my throat. No wonder Pipit sounded so suspicious of me earlier. He had little reason not to be.

Horwell wasn't suspicious of me because he knew that I was busy enough as it was.

Karane wasn't either because she had been the one to see my reactions upon hearing that there were odd things happening.

Then what about Fledge's behavior? It was still bothering me.

There was something off about the way he acted.

Still, if there were dead butterflies tacked to my door when I was gone, how could I be the killer of the loftwings and the one who stole the bombs? If I was, then it would be stupid to tack them to _my_ door. It would just bring unwanted attention to myself.

Maybe Fledge was just afraid to talk to me in case he was targeted next. This butterfly incident was a clear indication that the person behind all of this was after me for some reason or another.

Well, now I knew that the missing goddess sword and Ruby Tablet were related to everything else. In fact, it appeared that everything here was related in some form or other. And it was probably the same person behind each.

Whoever it was had to have some sort of grand scheme that involved me in some way…Which probably meant that this had something to do with saving Zelda, since I was the only one here that was connected to that.

Horwell didn't reply for a long moment.

When he spoke again, he sounded confident. "Nonetheless, if Link was behind this, he wouldn't have had them against his door. And he hasn't even been here for the past few days, so when would he have done it? Anyway, are there any more details concerning the incident?"

"Well, Fledge found them first, since his room is beside Link's," Karane said, "And it was honestly pretty disgusting. They were arranged in a sort of diamond shape, and there were ten small daggers that were keeping them up. But what's weird is that we don't even supply those kinds of daggers here. You probably didn't hear about it since nobody wants to talk about it. It was even worse than the loftwings somehow, and everyone's worried that Link's gonna get killed. A lot of people found out when they happened to walk past his room. Fledge obviously didn't want to touch them to remove them." She took a deep breath, "The wings were all torn and ripped apart…It was awful. Yet nobody saw it actually happen."

It was then that something clicked in my mind.

Daggers. Arranging the dead butterflies in a diamond shape. _We don't even supply those kinds of daggers here_. Diamonds.

Killing loftwings and making them suffer. Using some sort of blade to inflict enough injuries just to make them bleed to death. Leaving the bodies so arrogantly in plain sight without even a semblance of modesty.

Me losing the goddess sword and the Ruby Tablet, both of which were two of my most vital possessions, the two items that I absolutely needed to progress any further in my already-difficult quest.

The presence that even Fi couldn't identify. The laugh that she had pretended not to hear. The feeling of someone touching my shoulder.

And the whole time, not seeing anybody there.

I felt my body freeze up for less than a second before I forced myself think rationally.

_No._

It couldn't possibly be him.

Feeling a bit sick and not wanting to eavesdrop any more – even though there was definitely more important information that I could have caught – I turned back and left for my room, mind buzzing with questions that I didn't think anybody here would be able to answer.

If it truly was him, then this was way more serious than just some deranged human killing loftwings and ripping apart insects. This was all directly related to my quest to save Zelda.

The two things had never been separate.

They'd all been part of some scheme.

The more I thought about it, the more that things were falling into place. Things were actually making sense in some twisted, yet frightening way.

Because if that…demon…had been behind all of this, then that meant that I had inadvertently put everyone else in danger, not just myself. I'd never intended for any of this to happen.

I just wanted to bring Zelda back to Skyloft and to not have to worry anymore.

It wasn't meant to go this way. If I was right with my assumption, then I was in for a lot of trouble, as was everyone else.

I reached my room after blindly making my way through the academy.

I stopped at the door. My eyes landed on the wood, searching for any marks that daggers could have made.

My eyes caught on a small dent in the wood, followed by another and another and another. Soon, my eyes had traced the shape of a diamond. If I looked very carefully, I could see a small pink mark that looked like it could be part of a wing.

Nausea rose in my throat, but I forced down the overwhelming urge to vomit.

They weren't just making stuff up. There really had been dead butterflies pinned against my door.

Feeling more ill than ever, I made myself open the door and step inside the room. The room still looked as bright as ever with the rays of sunlight still shining through the open window. Everything looked alive and cheerful.

It just gave me a throbbing headache.

I'd only taken about two steps forward when a distinct chill ran down my spine, filling me with exactly the same sensation from earlier, and from yesterday. This time, I recognized the presence immediately.

Now I knew why it felt so familiar. It was because I'd felt this same way when I'd arrived at the end of Skyview Temple, when I'd first met _him_.

A name flitted through my mind. I wish I had remembered it sooner.

The sensation of a scattered gaze boring into me from every possible angle set off sparks of fright and adrenaline. Yes, it really was him after all. There was no mistaking it anymore.

"Ghirahim, I know you're there."

As anticipated, the response was immediate when one airy laugh broke the silence. The acknowledgement raised a more fervent reaction from me than expected. Misplaced excitement raced through my body and set my nerve endings alight in a way that it shouldn't have.

"Ah, so you really _do_ remember me. How flattering, sky child."


	3. Lingering

**Disclaimer: Nintendo owns TLoZ.**

/

_Part I: Chapter III_

_~Lingering~_

/

"I thought you'd forgotten about me," Ghirahim's disembodied voice rippled through the air softly, tauntingly, "It made me quite sad."

I pursed my lips, every now and then letting my eyes scan the room, waiting for him to appear. That uncanny teleporting ability; it was disconcerting and gave him a huge advantage. One of the stages of teleporting probably allowed him to stay constantly out of sight.

I almost believed that the last time we'd fought, he'd been going easy on me, which he'd kindly made a point to mention post-battle. At the time, I dismissed it as arrogance, but now I wasn't so sure.

Exhaling slowly, I tried to assert some confidence. I didn't have any useful weapons that I could fight him off with, but I couldn't let him know that.

"Are you going to talk to me properly or not?" I asked, trying not to flinch when I felt a soft, feather-light sensation run over the small rip in my tunic – right where the scar was – like trailing fingertips. The skin felt like it had been burned.

"Hm? Well, if the sky brat wants to see me that badly, then I suppose I can comply," he replied, voice dripping heavily with sarcasm and complacency.

I winced at the name he'd called me, irritation pricking at my skin.

It was less than a second later that, true to his word, a cloud of glimmering red and gold hued diamonds formed near the foot of my bed, and he appeared in their midst.

He was sitting casually on the edge of the plain wooden table near the end of my bed, about two or three steps diagonally ahead from my left. The diamonds had all vanished silently into thin air, and he looked terribly out of place surrounded by the simple rustic interior designing of my room.

I immediately took a step back without thinking, having forgotten exactly what he looked like, how penetrating and unnerving his gaze was.

It was like staring into an abyss, having that certain depth to it; however, at the same time, there was also a menacing and unsettling glint.

One visible dark eye met mine deviously, much unlike my own embarrassingly fearful gaze. I had to stop looking so freaked out.

If I hadn't already acknowledged it, Ghirahim loved instilling fright into his victims, and I was only egging him on by acting exactly the way he wanted. I absolutely was _not_ going to let him intimidate me. After all, hadn't I been the one to demand that he show himself?

He blinked lazily at me, lips curving into a smirk as he trailed one hand through the silvery white hair that obscured his other eye.

The light that shone in through the open window played along his pale skin, giving it an almost flawless appearance.

"Did you have anything you wanted to say, sky child? Or did you just feel like wasting my time?" he drawled.

I resisted the temptation to rib back that it was actually the other way around, and shook my head abruptly instead. "No, but don't you have something to say? Why else would you be here?"

Ghirahim didn't react much, probably having expected this question.

He lowered his gaze to his deep burgundy cape-like apparel that was draped over his shoulders. With languid movements, he smoothed out a nonexistent crease before looking back at me.

I gave him an expectant look, to which he merely smirked. "Fine, fine, if you really want to know…I didn't come to your quaint rock island to converse with you primarily. In fact, my intentions weren't to _talk_ with you at all."

He paused, "At least, not yet. But when I realized that you had your pretty little head all set on finding me, I decided to oblige you. Besides, you seemed quite keen on 'investigating' earlier, what with how you were sneaking around, so why not humor you with my presence? Satisfied?"

"No," I answered truthfully, "But I'll let it slide."

A chiding, "Well, you're quite generous, aren't you?" came from Ghirahim, but I ignored it, feeling a bit hung up on the 'investigating' jab.

He gave me an arrogant leer afterwards, rattling my nerves as I realized that my lack of a desired response might have unintentionally irritated him. I didn't ask for a fight, and I sure didn't want to cause one, either.

"Fine, I guess I do have some things I wanted to say," I continued carefully, monitoring his expression. After no noticeable change, I went on, blurting out the first thing that came to mind, "…I think you know where the Ruby Tablet is."

"Ruby Tablet; I seem to recall what that is. But why should I know where it is? What nonsense would you be spewing out this time?"

His words came out smoothly. His demeanor was quite the same; completely at ease. There were no nervous twitches, no clenched hands, loss of eye contact, rigidness. If anything, my accusation didn't seem to affect him at all.

If he was lying, he was doing a mighty good job.

"I'm not 'spewing' any 'nonsense'. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

A thought flitted through my mind, whispering 'why should he tell me when I'm clearly weaponless?'

"And what exactly would you be talking about?" he asked.

I sighed exasperatedly. He was toying with me.

"The Ruby Tablet. I'm talking about the Ruby Tablet. You said you knew what that was, and I think you know its location, too. Actually, I _know_ you do."

He shook his head once, the blue diamond that hung from a pointed ear swaying with the movement. It must have been some sort of gemstone, or maybe a kind of colored glass…

"No, I don't know where it is, but _someone else_ might. Perhaps you should try not to misplace your toys."

"It's not a toy and I didn't 'misplace' it," I snapped, "And what about the goddess sword? Did I 'misplace' that, too?"

A sudden flash of light made me flinch, but when the jewel toned diamonds vanished, I was given an answer to my question. "No, it's right here," Ghirahim said softly.

The demon twirled the goddess sword around in one gloved hand, somehow catching and balancing the blade between his pointer and middle fingers.

The corners of his lips curved slightly up in a smile that was more menacing than friendly. I gave him a hard stare, reigning in the intense temptation to just grab it from him. I knew that it would be foolish to lunge over to take it when I had no means to defend myself if he chose to attack.

"Give it back. Now." I glared; I could feel my anger sparking. I'd had enough.

"That expression…" He paused, standing up. "On you, I find it quite becoming."

I frowned, dropping the apparently 'becoming' expression I'd been wearing. What the hell was he trying to accomplish? Didn't he have his hands full with trying to find Zelda?

I sighed. Out of all the things that could have happened to my most important possession, specifically; the goddess sword, this was probably the worst case scenario.

"Just give me back the goddess sword."

"No, I think I'd prefer not to…" He turned the sword around so that he was holding it properly. The blade was pointed casually at me, glinting in the light. "I've always wondered what it would be like to spill someone's blood with their own weapon, but unfortunately, I've never gotten to try it."

My eyes widened, then flickered back to the goddess sword when a sudden idea came to me. "Fi, are you still there? Can you do anything?!"

However; it was futile. Halfway through my second question, Ghirahim was already making the sword disappear again, ruining any chance I had to get it back. Enveloped in the same diamonds that it had appeared in, it disappeared, leaving only Ghirahim, who looked annoyed, but at the same time, vaguely relieved that he'd gotten rid of the sword before Fi could make herself appear.

I felt my hands shake.

Cold traces of panic and humiliation seeped through my veins, contrasting greatly with the searing hot anger that was making my vision hazy.

I was as good as dead now that my chances of retrieving the goddess sword were less than zero. Zelda may as well be dead, too, since I had such a low survival rate at this point. If I didn't protect her, I knew that Ghirahim would kill her, which would lead to a catastrophe of greater proportions than I could even fathom.

But still, I didn't give up easily. I wouldn't let this be the end, because even without Fi, I could still _try_ to fulfil my duty as the Goddess' chosen.

"You…Why did you take it?"

Ghirahim seemed greatly amused, and he turned to look to the side, so that I could only see his profile. "Perhaps I'll return it to you one day when I need some more entertainment."

The last word seemed to leave an imprint in my mind.

Entertainment.

This was just some sort of game to him. I turned away as well. "…Do you know where the Ruby Tablet is, then?"

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "No."

"Then what about what's been happening here?"

"You're referring to…?"

A long pause followed when I realized that he was still manipulating me for his own amusement. A sliver of hurt settled in my chest. I wasn't being taken seriously; he was mocking me, and probably would continue to do so.

But moreover, I just wished I knew what he was up to. All of his recent actions – even the ones he refused to admit to – had to lead to something else. Something more important.

That's what I liked to believe.

I found my gaze fixated on the ground, asininely tracing the faded patterns on the area rug. He didn't have any reason to tell me anything whatsoever.

He had no reason to take me seriously anyways. I shouldn't have acknowledged his presence at all if he was just going to act like this.

I furrowed my brow, fingers clenching and unclenching fractionally with suppressed agitation and nervousness.

He couldn't possibly be telling the truth about the Ruby Tablet, then. And nothing I could do would change that. He had no reason to tell the truth. He was my adversary, who unfortunately had the upper hand this time. It was just _bad luck_.

"I know exactly what's going through your head, sky child."

A sly voice jostled me back to the situation at hand.

"No, you don't," I retorted, eyes darting back up to meet his.

"You're wrong. I _do_ know what you're thinking. You're an open book." He cocked his head to the side, smirk vanishing to give him an almost innocent expression, masking the dangerous intent that glimmered in his eyes.

My mouth went dry. I'd never seen him look like that, and it was extremely unnerving, since I had no idea what to expect.

I consciously went against my initial desire: to get the hell out of here. Instead, I held my ground to give some impression that I wasn't going to run away like a coward.

Nonetheless, I could still feel my weight shifting slightly towards the foot closest to the doorway, body angling a fraction towards the exit in case something bad were to happen.

"You think," Ghirahim started, taking a step closer, expression still unreadable, "that I'm _lying_, and that I'm manipulating you."

The last words came out in a whisper that immediately sent trills of fear up my spine. But what bothered me most was that he had read my mind perfectly. Was it that obvious?

"And maybe you're right," he continued.

I gathered the nerve to ask a question, still trapped under his disturbing, predatory gaze. "How did you manage to do all of it within a few days?"

"Do all what?"

I swallowed, body freezing up as he took one more step closer, close enough that he probably could feel the barely concealed nervousness emanating from my body in waves.

"Er, you know what I mean."

A white gloved hand reached towards my face, and I found that I couldn't move away. A finger traced a line down my cheek from the corner of my left eye, before breaking contact entirely.

I held my breath, trying not to react.

"Care to enlighten me?" He inquired after my lack of response. Again, I didn't reply, my body unresponsive.

An odd, faintly curious expression flitted across Ghirahim's face before his hand lightly ghosted across my jawline and to my chin. My mind instantly went blank at the second unexpected touch. He angled my face up slightly, the tip of his pointer finger brushing across my bottom lip.

This time, I couldn't stop the almost violent shiver that went through my body.

"_Don't touch me_," I snapped, roughly pushing his hand away while hastily backing up as I was brought out of my momentary frozen state. "Stop pretending that you're-"

My voice faltered, the word 'innocent' dying in my throat when I got a glimpse of his expression.

It read 'danger'.

Without hesitation, I bolted to the door.

/

"Darling? Are you okay?"

I looked up from where I was sitting after realizing that I was the one being addressed.

After fleeing my room like a coward – and thankfully not being followed – I had somehow ended up in the Bazaar, and was currently sitting at one of the tables.

My nerves were still rattled, my body buzzing with nervous energy. I could feel myself shaking slightly, but much to my relief, not visibly. Ghirahim had looked ready to kill me after I'd snapped at him for touching me. I hadn't been able to pretend I wasn't freaked out at that point.

I didn't know what he had wanted, nor what his goals were. He said he wasn't here for me.

I doubted that.

After I'd gotten out of the Knight's Academy, my mind didn't seem to want to work properly, and I kept remembering the look he'd given me, because even if he hadn't looked angry, there was something sinister that had hung in the air. That had terrified me more than I would ever admit out loud.

At that moment, my instincts had taken over and had, for some reason, led me here.

There were definitely more people here than at the Knight's Academy, so I guess it made me feel a bit more secure and comfortable than when I was alone with Ghirahim. The general noise that filled the building was vaguely calming when compared to the eerie silence of my room.

Nevertheless, I still couldn't stop from being on edge after what had just transpired.

"Oh, hey, Peatrice," I greeted, overlooking the term of endearment the other had called me. "Yeah, I…I'm okay."

The blonde girl pouted slightly.

She must have come over from where she worked at the Item Check counter to ask if I was alright. Her gaze was painfully sympathetic, and I tried not to grimace.

"Did something happen? You look like you just saw a ghost. It doesn't have anything to do with the strange stuff that's been happening, does it?"

I quickly smiled to reassure her.

"No, it doesn't have anything to do with that," I lied, "And I'm fine."

She raised an eyebrow as though she didn't believe me.

"No, no, really. I'm seriously okay."

Peatrice eyed me doubtfully for a few more seconds, but finally conceded. "Well, if you say so. But remember; if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask! I'd stay here, but I'm supposed to be at my counter…It's just that you looked so distressed."

"Oh, I'll be fine!" I hurriedly interjected with more enthusiasm than it was probably worth. If I was being honest, the girl could be very trying, and after her sudden attachment to me, it was probably best not to lead her on. Still, the indirect rejection met deaf ears. "Anyway, I can take care of myself."

I tried to give her a better smile.

She fluttered her eyelashes, her earlier concern having dissipated, "No, of course you can. I'm sure you'll be fine, sweetie. You're quite capable, after all."

An embarrassed and slightly pained wince went unnoticed. "Um –"

"Well, now that I know you're okay, I guess I'll be just over there. But we'll have to chat again soon!"

Peatrice gave me a small wave before returning to her counter. I returned the wave half-heartedly with an awkward grin on my face, and then turned back to the table I was sitting at.

Was I really that expressive? I hadn't thought I was, but when people were constantly asking about my well-being, or commenting on my expression…

Even _Ghirahim_ had mentioned how I looked. And more than once, too.

I rested my right elbow on the wood of the table, my hand slipping behind my neck. When I was sitting alone, and idle like this, it probably looked a bit strange. Academy students didn't usually hang out here by themselves.

But it wasn't as though I had better things to do –

Then I frowned; I had to be forgetting something.

Quickly, I wracked my brain, almost wanting to hit myself when I remembered my situation.

I swore quietly.

Without wasting any more time, I got up and left the Bazaar, the noise fading when I was outside again.

It was around midday, about the exact time I'd arrived back here yesterday. The bright sun from this morning had been semi-obscured by clouds, and the temperature had dropped marginally, but it wasn't unpleasant.

I started to head back to the academy. I had to deal with Ghirahim.

Was he still in my room, waiting for me to return?

I shuddered at the thought.

Judging from his reaction to when I pushed him away for touching me, he probably wasn't in a civilized mood. But the only way to find out was to go check. I felt embarrassed for my actions earlier, for having fled like that.

When I reached the doors to the Knight's Academy, I found myself hesitating. If he was still there, I knew things wouldn't be good for me. But if I didn't return, then I was just being cowardly and foolish.

Yet at the back of my mind, I found myself wondering if it was more foolish to confront Ghirahim, or to stay away. At some point, pride didn't matter. It was more about safety, not about what's the most dignified or what was least humiliating.

After a few moments of contemplation, I entered the building, hating the dread that settled inside me. It was a cold, and altogether not very comfortable feeling, like drowning, which had sort of happened once when I was practicing swimming when I was much younger. It had been a stupid mistake after venturing in a bit too deep and not having anybody close enough to keep an eye on me.

I remembered how my consciousness had started to fade into black, eating away at the edges of my vision slowly. My lungs were burning from the lack of oxygen, mouth closed as tightly as possible to stop swallowing water. But after a certain point, I remembered just losing my energy and letting the water into my mouth and nose, stopping my struggles because I was barely aware enough of myself to put up a fight anymore.

Luckily, I'd been dragged out of the water by one of the adults here in Skyloft – I didn't remember who, since I had lost consciousness – and was saved.

The cold feeling that had washed over me at the time bore an uncanny resemblance to the anxious sensation I was currently experiencing, albeit emotionally and not physically.

A shiver ran through my body at the memory that had been dredged up, and I quickly forced it into the far back of my mind. Ghirahim was the problem now. Not something that had happened over ten years ago.

I started down the hallway, heading to the classroom that I'd last heard Karane and the others in. I had to talk to someone about what had happened. I had to warn them before Ghirahim did anything to them or to myself, for that matter.

Yet as I neared the classroom again, I found it unusual how I didn't feel that like anyone was watching me anymore.

Ghirahim's presence had completely vanished.

I didn't understand why I could sense his presence most of the time, but there was just something about him that alerted me if he was nearby. Like an aura.

I shook my head and walked into the classroom. There was no way to prove something as intangible as that.

"Oh!" Karane jumped when she heard me enter the room. She looked utterly startled, but quickly regained her composure, smiling sheepishly. The others had left at some point, and she was alone. "Er, it's just you, Link. Sorry about that. I'm just a bit on edge today."

"It's okay. I just wanted to talk to you for a bit. You told me to tell you if I saw anything strange…" I replied, and walked over to where she was standing by the bookshelves.

"Yeah, sure."

"Um…" I paused, unsure of exactly what to tell her.

I definitely didn't plan on directly telling her about Ghirahim, but I knew that it would probably be good if I told her something or other, since it was probably my fault that all of this had happened.

After all, if I hadn't gone to the Surface and hadn't met Ghirahim, then what were the chances that he would come up here and start causing trouble? The problems were undoubtedly related to me in some way.

"I…I guess I keep feeling as though there's someone watching me," I started lamely.

Karane nodded, eyes returning to a book she was holding. She flipped through a few of the pages languidly, unsurprised. "Watching? Like following you around?"

"Kind of."

"But you haven't seen anything?"

I paused, and bit my lip before deciding that it would be best not to tell the truth here.

"Well, no. I mean, not really –"

"What?" Karane looked up from the book at my fumbled response, cutting me off. "What do you mean?"

"No, I mean I haven't seen anything or anyone," I quickly answered, feeling guilt well up in my chest. "I've only felt like there's someone that's watching me recently. But not all the time."

"Some other people said stuff like that to me, but I don't want to say who, because…you know. They didn't want me to tell anyone."

"What did they say?"

"That they were feeling a presence. But they didn't say 'watching'. They were saying that they just felt something weird. But only in passing."

"Oh…" That confirmed it: Ghirahim really was after just me.

I tried conceal my feelings of unease, not wanting to give away anything.

I could already sense that Karane was starting to get suspicious of me, but I had to remind myself that when people were nervous and there was no obvious solution, suspicion and fear controlled them; not necessarily logic. Unfortunately, this seemed to be the case.

Karane gauged my reaction, which I kept as neutral as possible before going on, seemingly satisfied with my response. "Yeah, well, everyone's really paranoid. Including myself," she laughed softly. "I'm trying not to get _too_ paranoid, but when everyone else is so nervous, it gets contagious."

I suddenly remembered what Fi had told me yesterday when I returned from the Surface; everyone was in the busier parts of Skyloft as a way of monitoring everyone else's behaviors. "It makes sense, I guess."

Karane turned back to the shelf to return the book she held before turning back to me. "If you're not too spooked, I'll tell you something else," she said in a quieter voice.

"Yeah?"

She hesitated slightly, but went on. "Well, don't tell anyone else this, but apparently two nights ago when Pipit was on patrol, he heard voices probably a bit after midnight. I don't think you were here then, so you wouldn't have noticed."

"Yeah, I just got back to Skyloft yesterday," I clarified. "But where was he patrolling? Whose voices were they?"

Karane furrowed her brows, leaning against a nearby desk. She fidgeted, adjusting her green hat slightly. "He was patrolling the halls here…" Her voice trailed off awkwardly, but she coughed and began again. "Er, I don't know if I should tell you this…but…"

"No, you don't have to," I quickly interjected, even though I was burning with curiosity. "If Pipit didn't want you to tell anyone, then it's okay."

"No, I'll tell you anyway." I was about to cut in again, but she continued. "And it wasn't really 'voices'. It was more just one voice, but I mean, I wasn't there, so I don't know."

So it was just one person talking, which didn't make a lot of sense.

Moreover, why would someone be talking to themselves in the middle of the night, especially considering the academy rules? One rule was that we were supposed to keep the noise down after eleven o'clock at night.

"Was someone just talking in their sleep? I heard that Cawlin does," I pointed out.

Cawlin was another kid around my age who was also at the Knight's Academy. He wasn't very tall – actually, he was shorter than me, which, although I didn't like to admit it, was quite something – had some sort of grudge against me for some reason or other, and had a painfully obvious crush on Karane.

The redhead made a slight face, "No, it wasn't him. Pipit told me that it was like someone was having a conversation by themselves. It wasn't actually that loud, but he only noticed the voice when he passed by the door." Another hesitation, then, "Well, fine, I guess I should just tell you whose room it was..." She sighed, "Have you noticed anyone acting stranger than usual?"

I said the name of the first person that fit the description.

"Um, Fledge? That's the only person I can think of."

Karane looked a bit surprised, then thoughtful. "So it's not just me."

"What? You're saying that he was talking to himself?"

"No," she corrected. "Not talking to himself. But having a one-sided conversation, Pipit said. He told me that it was as though he was talking to someone, but whoever it was had been answering really quietly or wasn't there at all, because he hadn't heard anyone else. When he knocked at the door, Fledge came to answer it, and Pipit told me that he couldn't see anyone else in the room with him after the door opened. Apparently Fledge was very nervous-looking, and was shaking, but he –"

'Ghirahim' was the first thing that I thought of. But it didn't makes sense that he would go after Fledge. However, if it was Ghirahim, then it definitely had something to do with the more nervous than usual behavior that Fledge had exhibited.

"Link, what's wrong?" Karane cut herself off and I was jolted out of my thoughts. "You looked a bit zoned out…Is it me? I'm sorry if I'm boring you."

"No! That's not it," I quickly interjected. "I was just thinking about what you said."

"Don't let it get to you too much. We can't do much about it. I just hope that nobody does anything they regret…"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't even know. Just be careful. The past few days have been really tough for everyone, and I guess I'm just worried." Her expression clouded over, but she quickly shook her head and smiled again. "I'm probably just being pessimistic."

I shrugged. "Maybe." I motioned towards the door, "Well, I have to go now, but I'll talk to you some other time."

Karane just nodded, "Feel free to grab any extra blankets. There's a supply closet you can get them from. It's getting kind of cold outside..."

"Okay, thanks," I replied as she turned back to the bookshelves.

I left the classroom immediately afterwards. I didn't feel like I was being watched, but there were more worries gnawing at my insides now.

If Ghirahim was starting to terrorize other people for whatever reason, then he was taking things too far.

He could hang around me however much he wanted, could do whatever he wanted to me, but I would never allow him to take it out on anyone else. I wouldn't let him get to the others. It was my job to protect them, not to let stupid things like this happen.

Wasn't it me who he was after, since I was the one that would be most likely to interfere with his plans?

I went down the hallway again, this time in the direction of my room. If I had known that he was targeting the other Skyloftians, then I would have given myself up without hesitation. Some might call it heroic, but it was just the right thing to do.

This was my responsibility, and it was painful to imagine him going after anyone else. So if I could give myself up in exchange for everyone else's safety, I would definitely take the opportunity and then fight back as soon as possible.

When I arrived at my door, I entered without hesitation, but even before I opened the door, I knew that Ghirahim was not here anymore. I was alone.

I felt some relief that Ghirahim was gone, but more than anything, I felt anxious.

After I'd closed the door behind me, I noticed the drop in temperature that Karane had mentioned. A slight shiver ran through my body. I quickly went and closed the window, blocking out the weak rays of light and preventing the now chilly wind from entering the room.

I couldn't feel Ghirahim's presence anymore, and it felt like it was ages since I last saw him, even though it was only a bit earlier this morning. By now, it had to be around mid to late afternoon. The day had gone by so quickly.

I turned away from the closed window, going to sit on my bed. I felt drained of energy.

Too much had happened in too short a time frame.

I'd lost Fi, and the Ruby Tablet, overheard stuff that I wished I hadn't overheard, conversed with Ghirahim, fled from Ghirahim, went to talk with Karane, and had been presented with even more disturbing news.

And now it was cold, and I was freaked out over what Ghirahim would do next.

I couldn't predict his next move, and I knew that weaponless, I couldn't do much to protect the ones I had vowed to keep safe.

Even though I hated admitting it, I was actually pretty nervous, and I didn't know what my next move should be. Ghirahim was manipulating us like puppets, and it seemed like this was all part of some elaborate scheme to stop me from saving Zelda, who I could only pray was alright.

Tiredly, I pushed the depressing thoughts away and went to go leave the room again. After checking to see that Ghirahim was gone, there wasn't anything else I could do here, so the best bet would be to talk to some more people and see if I could find out anything useful. Right now, as things stood, I didn't like the idea of leaving everyone here in Skyloft while I went to the Surface.

In fact, it was probably best if I stayed in Skyloft, where the biggest threats seemed to be.

But just as I got to my feet, something caught my eye. Something on my desk.

I went over and looked down at the folded paper that I swore hadn't been present when I'd last been here. With apprehension, I picked it up and unfolded it. Elegant handwriting in a blood red ink jumped out at me from the clean whiteness of the paper.

But that wasn't what bothered me; it was what was written.

There were only three words.

"You will shatter."


	4. Unruly

**Disclaimer: Nintendo owns TLoZ.**

/

_Part I: Chapter IV_

_~Unruly~_

/

"Hey! Wait up!" I called after Fledge as I caught up to him.

I'd seen him inside earlier, but he had blatantly avoided me and had run outside. Now we were both in the open, still close to the entrance of the Skyloft's Knight's Academy, but not in any way shielded from the now-freezing wind.

It had picked up some more, and I could see a few other Skyloftians returning from being out with their loftwings. When it was windy or cold like this, it was too risky to be out flying.

Fledge looked back at me with what appeared to be shame. "What is it, Link?"

"I just – I mean, what's gotten into you?" I asked.

At this point, I was almost certain that Ghirahim had been using him for some purpose; perhaps to get to me, and I wasn't going to put up with it for much longer. I just had to get that through to Fledge so he'd understand that I was on his side and that he didn't have to avoid me.

"Nothing."

I raised an eyebrow. "No, it's not 'nothing'. You're avoiding me."

"N-no, I'm not…I wouldn't-"

"Fledge, please stop lying," I said, "I need to know."

"I'm not avoiding you…"

I sighed. "Yes, you are."

A shake of the head.

I looked away, trying to conceal my frustration. He wasn't going to tell me anything. That only supported my theory that Ghirahim was involved. He probably ordered him not to tell me anything, maybe even blackmailing him.

That meant that if I wanted any information, I'd have to get it straight from Ghirahim, and there was no way I could trust him.

"Okay, fine," I finally conceded. "You don't have to tell me. Anyway, you should go inside. It's too cold out here."

He blinked in surprise, probably because I gave up so quickly. "B-but what about you?"

I shook my head. "I'm just going to be out here for a bit longer."

Fledge gave a hesitant nod and then scurried back inside, casting a few confused glances over his shoulder. If Ghirahim wasn't involved in this somehow, then his strange behaviour was a complete mystery to me.

I was still in the dark about most things.

What was Ghirahim up to?

What business did he have with someone like Fledge?

Had he chosen Fledge because he would be easy to intimidate and manipulate? It seemed possible.

What still didn't make sense was why he was going about this in such an inconvenient manner. If he wanted to get me – because I couldn't imagine who else he'd be after besides Zelda – then why not just go directly to me? I wasn't in any position to fight back and actually beat him, seeing as I was weaponless. As things stood, he could easily overpower me and get me out of his way.

He'd made it pretty clear that he was after me, what with taking the goddess sword, and not even pretending that he hadn't. The Ruby Tablet's whereabouts were still a mystery, but I'd find it eventually.

I hugged myself, shivering slightly from an especially cold breeze. Above my head, the blue sky was quickly becoming obscured by thick, grayish, altogether unpleasant-looking clouds.

The light from the sun was being blotted out, making everything dark and dreary.

We didn't usually get bad weather here, but every now and then it happened, so this wasn't too strange. It probably wouldn't get that much worse.

Either way, I didn't really mind it that much. It was nice to just be outside again.

I realized that this was what I needed.

To get away from the academy for a few minutes.

Ever since my most recent encounter with Ghirahim this morning, the building had felt too claustrophobic.

If anything, I needed time alone.

Most Skyloftians were probably inside now to get out of the cold and be sheltered from the wind and the likely-to-come rain. That meant that more people would be inside. More people to be suspicious of me for whatever reason.

And I probably appeared suspicious, too. I knew more than they did about the current situation, and knowledge could be dangerous. If I let on that I knew more than them, then I could get blamed for the most recent things that had happened.

An even stronger gust of wind whistled past and made my steps falter slightly, bringing me away from the thoughts churning around in my mind.

Because of my training with the academy, I instinctively looked around to make sure that nobody was out flying. It was definitely too dangerous at this point, and I didn't want anybody to get hurt.

A quick scan of the area told me that pretty much everyone had gone inside. I could only see someone taking in some laundry that had been hanging up, and Beedle, who ran a small store, landing his small airship on the plaza. He usually didn't land here, but I guess it would be too risky to stay airborne with the growing tempest.

Another shiver ran through my body at the cold wind that stung at my exposed face and my fingers, where the gauntlets did not cover. Some of my hair blew in my face, but I brushed it away.

I looked back at the academy. It would probably be best to go inside now. I'd had enough time to think.

My feet started to lead me back towards the building when I realized that I was holding something.

I'd been so distracted and caught up with talking to Fledge that I hadn't even noticed.

I wasn't so forgetful. This wasn't like me, and because of that, I found myself feeling more than a bit disconcerted.

A crumpled paper.

Blood red script.

I breathed the words it bore even before I smoothed out the paper.

A few moments passed, my gaze locked on elegant writing before I ripped the paper up into tiny pieces until I couldn't read it anymore.

It was just a stupid note, a disturbing one at that, and it didn't matter. I knew who it was from, I knew what it had said. I opened my hand and let the wind carry the shreds of paper away.

They swirled around in the breeze before scattering on the different currents, vanishing from sight.

"What now, Ghirahim?" I asked quietly.

There was nobody around to hear.

/

Torrents of rain battered Skyloft, the sound of the wind buffeting the sides of houses and whipping around the trees, created a cacophony of sounds that permeated the walls. It droned on and on through the night, making sleep difficult.

After finally falling unconscious, I found that it did nothing to lessen my tiredness. In fact, I felt completely unrested once I'd woken up at what was presumably morning. It was so gray and cloudy outside that it was hard to see the sun. Its light only broke through the clouds once or twice with pale, watery light.

Once I'd come inside after ripping up Ghirahim's note yesterday, I'd tried socializing with some more people, but everyone seemed a bit too distant for my liking, and I'd soon given up. Most Skyloftians were still a bit on edge after what had happened only a few days before, and didn't seem too keen on talking.

I couldn't blame them. I was feeling disconcerted, too. I knew that Ghirahim was up to something, but I didn't know what, and that made me nervous.

I didn't know what his next move would be, and I wanted to be prepared this time, yet there was no way to do so without knowing what the danger would be this time.

And when it began raining yesterday evening, everyone was officially advised against flying, and being cooped up inside didn't help with the way everyone's suspicions were skyrocketing. It just made everyone feel trapped and – most likely – afraid.

Unfortunately, the wind and rain hadn't ceased, meaning that we were still stuck here.

If Ghirahim decided to pull anything today, then we'd all be confined in one place, since flying was too dangerous. This also meant that I was stuck in Skyloft and couldn't go down to the Surface.

It wasn't like I could do much good there, but I still would have liked to, rather than stay here feeling useless. At this point, my being here didn't ensure anybody's safely. I was faced with the depressing reality that I, alone, couldn't protect everybody.

"Oi, Link, you said you wanted to get a new sword, right? Any preference?" the Knight Commander Eagus was asking, pulling me out of my thoughts. He was a largish brawny man with a close cut brown beard and a hat which covered most of his hair. "I have these two that should be the right weight and size for you. Pick either."

He held two similar blades; modest, but still able to fulfill their purpose. Still, nothing to gawk at.

The first thing I truly noticed was how they clearly lacked the glimmer of life that Fi provided in the goddess sword. I'd have to make do until I could get her back.

Nonetheless, I had come to the Sparring Hall for a reason, and I needed a new weapon if I was going to defend myself. For now, these were probably the best weapons I'd find.

"Hmm…" I glanced between the two before gesturing to the one in Eagus' right hand, the one that looked the most like what I was used to. "That one is good."

He passed it to me carefully, so I wouldn't cut myself on the newly sharpened blade. I weighed it in my hand, taking a few practise swings, and then nodded an affirmative. I turned it over in my hand a few times, watching the indoor lights reflect off the flat, shiny side of the blade. "Yeah, this'll be fine. Thanks."

He nodded and grinned widely. "Great! Let me know if you need any extra training."

"Okay, sure thing." I turned to leave, but then stopped myself when an idea struck me. "Um, there's something else, actually."

"Yeah? Was there anything you needed?"

"Er…I was wondering if I could just take a look through the weapons supply. There's something I'm looking for."

He raised an eyebrow. "What was it?"

I fidgeted slightly, my boots scuffing the ground softly. "I, uh…what types of weapons do you keep here?"

"Well, we have a pretty good variety. I can take a look…Any kind in particular?"

"…A dagger or something like that?"

Goddess, he was probably going to get suspicious now. I tried not to look too nervous, and I almost winced at the appraising look he gave me.

"We don't have a lot of daggers…"

I bit my lip. "Did you get any new ones recently?"

He immediately caught on, and his expression went stern. "You heard about that incident, then, didn't you?" I nodded stiffly, and he sighed. "I didn't see, but just recently I was given a set of daggers, and I was informed of what happened. Word's been going around, too. Apparently, you weren't there when it happened. Nothing's troubled you?"

I shook my head, trying to look convincing. It must have worked, since he relaxed a bit.

"Thank Farore. Anyway, you wanted to see those daggers, right?" He went on, "I can see why you'd be curious."

"Yeah."

He looked thoughtful before he continued, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to show you one of them. You're a good kid, and I'm sure you had nothing to do with it. I just don't want you to lose your nerve."

I mentally breathed a sigh of relief as he headed into a back room before returning a few seconds later, holding one dagger out. "Here's one of them. Careful, now."

He passed the blade to me, and I took it hesitantly. My fingers brushed over the red diamond that was welded into the broadest face of the weapon.

A strange, yet intense feeling washed over me, and I gripped it tighter, a sharp sensation making me grimace.

"I knew it…" There was no doubt in my mind that Ghirahim was behind everything now. Not after seeing this. This was definitely his, and I was glad that I had fully confirmed it. I knew the truth now.

In this 'game' – as Ghirahim would probably call it – doubt could be fatal.

Commander Eagus shot me a puzzled expression, "Knew what?"

I blinked. "Uh, I – um, knew that it wasn't just a rumor," I quickly improvised.

"No, it wasn't a rumor. It sure did happen. I'd never seen a dagger like that before."

"Can I hang on to this?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. Eagus looked completely miffed.

"What for?"

I grimaced awkwardly. "Ah, never mind. Here."

Reluctantly, my grasp lessened as I went to pass it back, and I winced as I felt a numbness in my left hand, the one that held the dagger. My other hand gripped the newly-acquired sword.

A sticky warmth clung to my fingers, and I looked down. "What!?"

Surprise flitted across my face as I found blood seeping from around the dagger and through my gauntlet. Part of my hand had been touching the sharp edges of the blade. I'd held it too tight, not even noticing when I'd cut the palm of my hand.

"Link! Are you okay?" Eagus quickly interjected, eyes wide and concerned. He went to take the dagger away, but I recoiled.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Actually, c-can I just keep this after all?" I shakily replied, not letting go of the blade. I could feel small rivulets of blood running down my fingers. Hastily, I angled my hand so as to stop any blood from landing on the ground.

"No, you're hurt. You can't keep –"

"Um, I think I'm going to head out now, sorry…" I quickly turned back, feeling faintly nauseous at the unexpected attachment I felt for the dagger; the sudden temptation to keep it for myself.

I felt strange, and I had to figure out what was going on.

A hand caught the wrist of my good hand, and I stumbled slightly, glancing back, "Um, yes, Commander?"

The burly-looking man took the dagger from my hand, eyes still filled with worry. Dark blood dripped tauntingly from the sharp point of the weapon. It made me think of Ghirahim.

"You go get your hand bandaged up, Link. And _please_ try to be more careful."

The sudden desire to snatch the dagger back was overwhelming, but I fought it. I looked away as he let go of my wrist and sighed.

"…Okay."

/

Outside, the elements didn't hold back, and I found myself getting more anxious with every passing moment. I leaned against the hard stone wall behind me, feeling cold and damp, but not caring much.

The passage that led into the goddess statue provided some shelter from the rain and wind, and it was better than being inside where everyone else was. Not because of the physical surroundings, but because I needed to be alone; because I didn't feel quite right. I felt almost like I was missing something important.

I shook my head, my thoughts incoherent and scattered. The only thing I could be certain of was that I really wished I could have kept that dagger.

It disturbed me that I would have wanted to keep something of Ghirahim's, but it was probably nothing. I'd felt the same when I'd ripped up the note, but at the time, I had thought it inconsequential. This time, I couldn't ignore it.

It was almost like some sick indirect pull towards Ghirahim, and that just made me worried. It was probably just because I disliked him so much. Hatred was a strong emotion.

My hand still throbbed painfully, drawing my gaze away from the rain and wind outside.

The cut was still bleeding. It had been deeper than I'd noticed before. It made it almost impossible to form a fist without wincing.

I probably shouldn't have come out here. It would have been better had I gone to get it bandaged, if I had gone inside, like Commander Eagus advised. Being out here, I wouldn't be surprised if I got sick, or if the injury got infected.

"Ghirahim, this is all your fault…" I hissed, my good hand instinctively tightening on the hilt of my sword. I knew I was being juvenile, but I couldn't help it. Everything was so messed up.

A shudder ran through my body, and it took me a few moments before I realized that it wasn't just because of the frigid wind from outside. That same feeling of familiarity clung to my skin, and made me glance around.

The feeling of an unseen presence hung in the air around me as though I'd summoned it, which I very well might have.

Speak of the devil.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the cold stone, exhaling softly. "Why are you here this time?"

The reply was quiet, blending in eerily with the sounds of the storm outside. "Why are you asking when you know you won't be satisfied with my answer?"

I shrugged, letting my eyes crack open in time to see a few flashes of light dissipate.

He was here, one visible dark eye gleaming tauntingly, despite the shadows cast by the churning clouds above combined with the darkness inside the arched passageway.

Ghirahim wasn't wearing his usual attire, since it couldn't possibly have been very water resistant or warm, and instead donned a darker cloak and a slightly less revealing outfit underneath. As for me, I hadn't bothered changing into anything warmer, but at least the fabric of my tunic was pretty waterproof.

Leaning against the opposite wall, a bit farther in the passageway, it was difficult to see many details, but the demon lord's frustratingly self-righteous expression didn't go unnoticed.

"Fine, but just humor me," I sighed, trying not to shiver again as I was caught in a draft of cold air. I could practically taste his arrogance, and it made me feel too insecure to ask him about the note he'd left me.

"Very well, sky child. But tell me; is there anything wrong with merely wanting to pass the time with someone?"

"And I guess that someone would be me?" I let out a short, humorless laugh, trying to look apathetic when I felt quite the opposite. "Whatever you say, I'm sure you have your reasons. But I'm not feeling great today, so it's your loss if you want to waste your time."

I sensed rather than saw the predatory gaze that was cast upon me. "You're quite bitter, aren't you?" He chuckled. "I guess that can't be helped, not when you've become such a useless pawn of the Goddess'."

"And we all know whose fault that is," I retorted.

"Blaming others for your own problems will never get you anywhere in life, hero. I thought you were more intelligent than that."

I tensed and sent him a glare. "You…You're – Can you just tell me what's going on already?"

"I suppose it would only be polite." He took a few sauntering steps past me and closer to the entry, gazing outside, his voice trailing off. With his back to me, I couldn't see his expression, and then a sudden idea struck me.

It was underhanded, but if it worked, then it might prove to be my salvation.

Quickly, I lifted my sword hand, bracing my feet against the gritty, damp stones underneath me. I quickly calculated the best place to attack.

I could aim for the back of the skull, but he was taller than me and I wouldn't be able to put enough power into the hit. He wasn't exactly human, either. I could also strike the spinal cord, but because he was a demon, it might not paralyze him like it would a normal human being.

I ended up settling on angling my blade carefully and precisely so as to deliver a death blow through the ribs, where I would drive the weapon into where his heart would be. One simple action, and the blade would plunge through his heart, shattering some of his ribs and likely even puncturing a lung in the process. Even with his demonic healing abilities, he would surely die.

Just as I was about to strike, the situation changed. It happened so suddenly that I didn't even seen him move.

The tip of the blade was caught between two gloved fingers in an iron grasp. My hand shook slightly with the pressure he applied. He raised an eyebrow challengingly, "Yes?"

I glowered and yanked the weapon out of his grasp, faintly surprised when he let go so easily. Feeling annoyed, I leaned back against the wall again. Ghirahim gave me a strange look that I couldn't decipher before he smirked, "You're excruciatingly predictable. It can be rather tiresome."

I gave a small sigh in response, my hand lowering until the tip of the sword clanged softly against the ground. My other hand felt numb with cold. I glanced at it, watching as the still-open cut oozed more of my life force.

A tiny drop of the crimson liquid trailed down my pointer finger from under my gauntlet. Ghirahim followed my gaze and I could see a disturbing glimmer in his eye when he caught sight of the blood.

"It looks like you injured yourself, sky child."

I went to wipe off the blood on my tunic, but stopped when I saw Ghirahim's expression. "What of it?" I asked hesitantly.

"You shouldn't let such precious blood be spilt." His eyes filled with an unnerving gleam that made me feel a bit sick. "Let me help you."

I gasped as he suddenly snatched my hand up in his and a warmth spread over my fingers. His serpentine tongue lapped at the blood in a disturbing way and I froze.

"What the hell are you _doing_?!"

He didn't answer my question and ripped off my blood-soaked gauntlet to get better access to the injury.

"Hey, stop it!" I said through gritted teeth. I couldn't decide whether to lash out at him or try to escape.

Surprisingly, he acted before me and actually stopped like I'd asked. His tongue, stained red, flicked out to lick his lips. "Mm, you're quite," Ghirahim paused, brushing a strand of hair out of his eyes, "tempting."

I withdrew my hand completely, wincing at the sting from the cut. Without the gauntlet, I could see that the skin was sliced down through my palm over the heart line. It was deep, and since Ghirahim had 'cleaned' away the rest of the blood, the area underneath the skin was white with pinpricks of red that grew. Blossoms of red dribbled out from the cut when I flexed my fingers.

It was nauseating.

"Don't do that again," I snapped, about to continue when he cut in silkily.

"Do you blame me?" He tilted his head slightly to the side, "Or yourself? Or rather…do you blame the blade that cut you?"

"What do you mean?" I replied impatiently, bending to pick up my discarded gauntlet and proceeding to wipe off my hand on my tunic. The blood from the wound left a faint reddish stain in the fabric.

"I mean that you're an even greater imbecile than I presumed if you think I don't recognize a wound from my own weapon."

So he knew that I'd cut myself with one of his own daggers. "It doesn't matter how it happened."

"Oh, but it does. Why did you seek them out?"

"Seek _what_ out?" I found my patience running thinner than usual.

"Seek out that which belongs to me: the daggers," he replied. "But also myself."

"I didn't –"

"Yes, you did…You won't even admit it." Ghirahim paused thoughtfully. "…So it really is true…"

"What's true? What won't I admit?"

He glared at me.

"Learn to hold your tongue. I'm not here to answer all your questions…" He trailed off, taking on a ponderous tone, "I suppose your actions could be connected with the fate's influence, in a way. It does possess some truth, and you've experienced it firsthand."

I looked away, breathing out angrily. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I'm aware of that," Ghirahim answered, looking back outside as though searching for something. He turned back to me. "But I'll explain whether you understand or not. Imagine a tapestry that is the present, past, and future. It's what some call destiny, but I don't normally use such petty terms. So one day, part of it was torn, and now you're ensnared. And unfortunately I am, too. A flaw in that filthy goddess' plans, perhaps." He scowled as he spoke the last words, and then went on, "I honestly can't say that I enjoy being at the base of a statue made in her honor."

I frowned, watching the wind whip through Skyloft. "…You're not making any sense."

He sighed dramatically, casting a weary gaze in my direction. "Someone of your intellect might not understand. I'll rephrase it."

There was a pause as Ghirahim thought of what words would be suitable for me to understand, and I made a face. I was tempted to try to attack him again, but I knew it wouldn't work.

He would only get upset, and I didn't want to get any further on his bad side.

I'd already interfered with his plans to capture Zelda once before, and even though I had no idea why he was here, I knew that it would be unwise to anger him.

Casually, he moved closer to me, looking pensive. He looked at me, and then reached to touch my cheek. I didn't tell him to move away this time. After seeing his expression yesterday after telling him not to touch me, I was too nervous to do anything.

His hand caressed my face, and I could feel the softness of his gloves.

I dropped my gaze, body stiff with cold, yet also with the growing fear that he'd decide to end me right now.

Ghirahim angled my face upwards, forcing me to look at him like last time. His expression was strangely unreadable, but all I could think was that he was much too close for my liking. Oddly enough, I didn't try to move away, and that concerned me more than the first fact.

"I figured it out. You'll understand now, sky child," he said softly, his cool breath ghosting lightly across my face. "You and I, we're bound by a thread of fate."

And then very slowly, he closed the gap between us and brushed his lips against mine.

My mind shut down.

I didn't respond at all, still in a state of shock, but luckily, it didn't last long either. In actuality, it couldn't have been longer than two seconds tops, yet to me, it had felt much longer than that. Instead of blushing, which would probably be normal under – well, normal circumstances, I felt my face drain of color at the almost-kiss.

He pulled away entirely, leaning against the opposite wall as though nothing had happened. His expression was a mixture of restraint and expectation, and he wasn't even looking at me. I still hadn't moved a muscle, and I didn't even have time to register what had just happened.

I tried to get words out of my mouth, but only managed a strangled sounding 'what'.

His eyes flitted back at me and then outside again. I noticed how his pupils seemed to dilate in anticipation.

There was suddenly a loud boom, like an explosion. I flinched more violently than I'd like to admit, and had to force myself look outside.

Ghirahim turned back to me with a sadistic smirk on his face, an expression I recognized.

That expression never meant anything good.

"It seems the show has just begun." He gestured outside where rain was falling in heavy sheets, water cascading from the tossing black clouds above. The wind roared in appreciation. The storm made me think of the tornado that had taken Zelda away.

Another explosion shook the ground, and I was completely snapped out of my petrified state, eyes darting outside. The earlier actions were immediately forgotten.

Panic flooded my mind as I saw the plumes of smoke. They rose into the already dark skies, blending in with the clouds. Their source; the bright burning flames that lapped at the sky, refusing to be distinguished by the storm.

Ghirahim only laughed.


	5. Scorching

**Disclaimer: Nintendo owns TLoZ.**

/

_Part I: Chapter V_

_~Scorching~_

/

"What the hell did you do!?" I demanded, whirling around to face Ghirahim.

He looked like he was trying to keep his expression neutral, but his visible eye was glimmering unnervingly. "I've been here the entire time, so I couldn't have done anything personally; you can testify to that. Use your head, sky child."

I glanced back outside as a series of explosions shook the ground. I put my hand on the wall to keep my balance, wincing when I realized that it was the injured one. I hissed in pain and withdrew it, leaving behind a streak of redness on the stones.

"I know you have something to do with this," I insisted, gritting my teeth. "…I have to go see if everyone's okay…"

From what I could tell, the fire originated from near the Bazaar. I could see the tips of the flames as they licked the sky and the smoke that was rising from the explosions.

I started to move out from the shelter that the goddess statue provided, towards where the fire was, but was suddenly yanked backwards.

An arm snaked around my waist tightly.

"What do you think you're doing?" I hissed. I made to strike him with my sword, but my wrist was restrained a second later when Ghirahim foresaw my actions. "Let go!"

"And what if I decide not to?"

I exhaled. "What do you want?"

"I –" Ghirahim cut himself off rather uncharacteristically.

_Strange…_

I fidgeted a bit. "C-can you let go already?"

I was starting to panic. There were people in the bazaar. What if someone had gotten killed?

A sudden thought occurred to me.

I stilled my movements. "The bomb supply was stolen from the Bazaar." Ghirahim didn't respond right away, so I kept on. "Why did –"

"Hold your tongue."

I blinked, my words dying on my lips. Ghirahim's voice was tense, not at all laid back like before. His arm was ridged and the hand gripping my wrist tightened imperceptibly. "What is it?"

"Don't talk."

Again, he silenced me, and I started to feel irritated. What was his problem? "Okay, just let go-"

Ghirahim twisted my hand, making the sword clatter to the ground loudly. The sound reverberated eerily through the passageway. "You're trying my patience."

I put my injured hand on the arm that was restraining me. I tried to yank it off, but it was no use. The wound on my palm was starting to sting again.

The wound in my hand stained part of his glove red. He exhaled tensely when he saw the crimson streaks left behind, but didn't say anything.

I must have said something to set him off.

My other hand twitched in Ghirahim's grasp. If he put any more strain on it, he'd surely break my wrist. I could feel the blood circulation slowing, the numbness in my fingers becoming more evident as the seconds passed.

I tried to kick, but Ghirahim must have sensed it, because he suddenly tightened his grip even more. A choked sound escaped my lips at the sudden pressure around my midriff and wrist, and I vainly tried to glare at him.

"I-it's too –"

I gasped in pain as he suddenly slammed me against the wall forcefully.

My gaze darted back outside, where the rain was still pelting down, but didn't seem to put out the fire below. In the distance, I could hear the faint sounds of yelling. I made more of an effort to get out of Ghirahim's grip.

"Let me go!" I struggled more. "What do you want already?!"

Ghirahim suddenly snarled at me, yanking me forward before I heard a sickening crack when I was thrown into the wall. My head lolled forward and my vision went blurry for a moment.

I could feel a sticky warm sensation near the side of my head.

My eyes cracked open and I blinked a few times to refocus.

Ghirahim wasn't looking at me, but met my gaze a moment later. His pupils were dilated.

"You're not going anywhere until I say so," he said after being silent for so long.

He looked at me carefully, his expression not matching his harsh words.

"No," I snapped, but my voice lacked venom. After Ghirahim's harsh treatment, everything was hurting and I knew I was bleeding in several places.

Ghirahim didn't look surprised at my response, and he leaned closer. "You're in no condition to be arguing. I could kill you right now if I wanted to."

"Then why don't you?"

I glared and used the wall to support me when I realized that he wasn't holding me anymore.

He opened his mouth to reply, but then cut himself off before he'd even uttered a sound. He returned my glare. "However much I'd love to kill you, you're more valuable to me alive."

I frowned at his words. It didn't make any sense. Wouldn't it be better for him to kill me and get me out of his way?

Just then, my foot caught on the sword that I had dropped, making it clang against the ground before stilling. Ghirahim brushed some hair out of his eyes, giving the weapon a look of contempt.

"I think I'll take that," he said, a hand forcing me back when I tried to reach down for the sword.

He snapped his fingers and it vanished.

I sighed, my eyes half-open as I struggled to stay conscious. He must have slammed me into the wall with more force than I realized. Hopefully I didn't have a concussion.

"You…" I started, only to be cut off by a finger being placed over my lips.

"_Shh_."

With little options left, I tried to bite the finger in retaliation, but couldn't muster the strength and slumped back against the wall again.

My vision went blurry once more, and I was tempted to give up, but I forced myself not to. Who knows what Ghirahim would do if he wasn't busy with me?

I shuddered inwardly at the thought. It was best if I kept him occupied and away from the other Skyloftians.

"Don't be like that, sky child," he chastised. "If you're obedient, maybe I'll let you go. I'd planned to let you see the fire, but…it'll be more fun to keep you here. You can always go see tomorrow. I promise, the damage is great enough that it won't be fixed overnight."

Because my mind felt so fuzzy, the words hardly processed, but I still managed to send him a glare.

Ghirahim smirked, seemingly back to normal after being so quiet and tense earlier.

"_Ah_, am I boring you? Either way, this isn't really of much importance. It's the outcome that counts. My Master will be pleased once I've gathered the information and components necessary to strengthening his power. The spirit maiden can wait for a little while longer, I'm sure."

He closed his eyes and leaned against the opposite wall, stretching languidly before looking back at me with a half-lidded gaze. "I can't believe this didn't occur to me earlier."

"What?"

"This," he repeated, cocking his head to the side so that his hair swayed, making his other eye visibly glint in the half-light.

I blinked a few times when reality started to slip away again. "What's 'this'?"

"You."

His eyes shone again, making his expression more sinister. I felt my breathing go shallow with uneasiness.

I didn't understand what he meant. Hell, I hardly ever could get the hidden meaning in his words. He spoke in riddles.

"What about me?" I desperately tried to uphold some semblance of control on the situation.

"You're going to be very useful to me, hero."

"As if I'd help someone like you," I muttered bitterly, voice almost drowned by the storm outside.

"Yes, 'as if'. You _will_ be of use; you don't have a choice, considering your utterly pathetic state."

I grit my teeth at the jibe, but didn't have the energy to get any words out, instead fixing the demon with a hard look. I hated how he was right. I _didn't _have a choice.

Ghirahim pushed himself off the wall and closed the distance between us. He brushed some of my damp hair away from my eyes and then gripped my chin, angling my face towards him.

I scowled. "Don't touch me."

The voice that came out was bordering on fragile, and I hated that, too. The edges of my vision were blurring more frequently, and I knew that the chances of dropping unconscious where I stood were all too high.

"Relax, sky child," Ghirahim replied calmly, but despite his disturbingly soothing tone, I could see his eyes flashing with something akin to curiosity.

_Why is he looking at me like that?_

In a last ditch effort, I tried to push him away, but if I was being honest, I knew it was no use – not when I felt so weak. To make things worse, the blood loss was causing a numbing sensation to spread throughout my body.

Ghirahim chuckled softly and then brushed his gloved hand over my cheek.

I shuddered and I tried to look away, but he prevented it by gripping my jaw harder.

Strangely enough, his actions didn't seem to match his expression. He wasn't smirking like I would have thought.

Before the thought could register, he had slipped a hand around my neck and had suddenly forced me into a kiss.

I let out an involuntary yelp at the action, the sound muffled by his mouth

Out of all the things I'd expected, this hadn't been one of them. I'd thought the other 'sort of kiss' that had happened earlier was just a fluke. Just to see what my reaction would be.

This was completely different.

"No, st –" I started as I was able to pull away for a second, only to be yanked back.

Again, I tried to push him away, but he only grabbed my wrists and pinned them on the wall above my head.

It all felt very strange.

I'd never kissed anyone on the mouth before – not like this – and since it was my enemy, it felt wrong and sinful.

I didn't know what to do. He had to have ulterior motives. There was no other reason for why he'd do this.

My mind blanked out for a moment when I felt a warm breath ghost over my mouth before I felt a hot, wet tongue drag over my lips.

I shivered and leaned back into the wall. This was disgusting.

I tried to put my energy into staying conscious, but was unable to ignore the strange feeling of the other's mouth on mine. There didn't seem to be any rationality to Ghirahim's actions at all.

I felt the hand that was gripping my jaw move and then he dug his thumb into the corner of my mouth hard.

So hard that I could feel the skin break, taste bursts of coppery blood.

I must have accidentally opened my mouth a bit, because a second later, I felt Ghirahim's tongue move past my lips to lap at the redness that flowed from the cut.

My eyes opened of their own accord – though I wasn't sure when they had closed.

I could see Ghirahim, his own eyes closed, pale silvery eyelashes brushing against cheekbones. He looked –

_Wait, what?_

I quickly reiterated those thoughts.

Only at such a close proximity would I have noticed such details.

Ghirahim continued to suck on the injury, urging more blood to seep out. A wave of dizziness from the blood loss made me lose my balance, but I was just pushed into the wall harder to keep me standing.

A dark eye opened and I stared back. Ghirahim pulled away for a moment. His voice was breathless and his lips were slightly wet. I wrenched my gaze away from them.

"You're so close to passing out, and yet you continue to resist…" he breathed.

I didn't reply.

I tried to settle my increased heartbeat, wipe that stupid unintentional blush off of my face. It wasn't like I could help it, not after what he did, after not properly breathing.

He sighed, "Very well, stay silent."

Just then, a searing pain ran through my hand from where the injury had been.

I jerked violently as the feeling intensified, letting out a startled sound.

Sticky warmth was trailing down my arm from where it was still pinned above my head.

Because of the frigid air, the blood seemed to go cold on my skin moments later.

Ghirahim dug his fingers into the wound further, almost tearing at the flesh. My mouth opened in a silent gasp of pain.

Then as suddenly as it had started, the intense pain thankfully subsided, and my arms fell to my sides where they hung limply. I could feel the blood dripping from my hand onto the ground.

He used the same hand to stroke the side of my face, streaking my skin with color.

"Red looks quite striking on you," he murmured.

"Why are you doing this?" I said through clenched teeth.

He just raised an eyebrow and then slipped a hand to the small of my back, forcing my body against his again.

Lips pressed to mine for the second time, the feeling starting to become horrifyingly familiar now. His other hand cupped my cheek.

Again, his tongue delved into my mouth, but I didn't do anything about it since I was too weak and disoriented to stop it from happening.

"…You'd better…not…hurt them," I gasped hoarsely as he pulled away, my eyes starting to slide shut against my will.

_I can't keep this up for much longer._

I didn't see his reaction, but I did hear a soft laugh over the sound of the rain outside.

I felt Ghirahim move away then, and I stumbled at losing the support he provided, half crumpling to the ground.

There was a sharp jab in my stomach as Ghirahim pressed his heel against me. I held back a pained groan.

My body refused to respond anymore, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't gather enough energy to even open my eyes. The cold and the blood loss numbed my body further.

My thoughts became more and more incoherent; I could only hope that Ghirahim wouldn't hurt anyone else. Surely I was enough to satisfy his thirst for blood.

Yet just as I fell unconscious, Ghirahim seemed to read my mind. His softly spoken words made me doubt myself.

"We'll see about that, sky child."


	6. Confrontation

**Disclaimer: Nintendo owns TLoZ.**

/

_Part II: Chapter VI_

_~Confrontation~_

/

When I finally came to, the first thing I noticed was the strange lighting.

The sky was covered with clouds, but everything was a warm caramel color, the color of an afternoon changing to evening. At the same time, the clouds created an almost surreal effect. It seemed to mute the sun.

_How long was I out?_

The next thing I noticed was the occasional rumble of thunder.

Oddly enough, there was no rain to accompany it, and the flashes of lightning were almost completely unnoticeable. I pushed myself up from my uncomfortable position on the ground, sitting up and leaning against the wall tiredly.

My eyes glanced to the hand that had been injured, but there was no evidence of a wound. I wiped away the damp grit and the faint streaks of blood, searching for an injury again, but still; there was nothing but unscathed flesh.

It was exactly the same for my head injury.

As I carefully prodded at the place where the wound had been, I found only remnants of dried blood.

I glanced down at the ground, at the almost invisible rusty stains – half diluted in the rainwater from before – confirming that it hadn't been a dream.

Confused, I proceeded to put on my gauntlets and hat after realizing that they were both resting neatly by the wall.

It was as though they'd been deliberately placed there.

Ghirahim had to have done this as some kind of joke, perhaps some strange formality. I could imagine him saying "Am I correct in assuming that you wouldn't want anyone to know about what happened? You should be grateful that I healed you."

Not that any of that was necessary, not after being so flippant earlier.

An involuntary blush crept onto my cheeks, followed by a wave of queasiness.

When I'd first met Ghirahim at Skyview, I thought that he got in my personal space only because he knew it made me uncomfortable. But now that didn't seem to be the case.

At the time, it may have just been a strange fascination, but at this point, it was unlikely.

Now, it seemed like a conscious desire, as if his initial curiosity had developed into something unhealthy.

Nevertheless, that didn't make him any less dangerous – quite the opposite. If he kept with this fixation, it meant that I wouldn't be able to save Zelda without getting hindered by him for whatever reason.

I scowled and then got to my feet as I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind.

After noticing the sorry state of my clothes, I tried my best to brush off whatever dirt I could from the fabric.

I didn't want to be seen as such a wreck. It was humiliating, and I wouldn't have any good excuses ready.

I definitely wasn't going to admit that I had been passed out for goddess knows how long. Besides, there were probably people that were worse off than me, people that had been in the fire's danger zone.

I needed to see what had happened as soon as possible and make sure everyone was alright.

Ghirahim had wasted enough of my time with his games, but I wouldn't let any of it phase me.

This was between me and him; nobody else had to get involved. I had a responsibility to keep everyone safe.

Feeling perturbed, I left the Goddess statue, telling myself that I'd clean up the blood later.

I headed back to the Knight's Academy.

Thunder growled quietly every so often, but eventually started to fade, leaving behind a silence that made me uneasy. It was foreboding, the knot inside me twisting tightly in dread as I anticipated what the fire had left in its wake.

The air was warm, muggy, and uncomfortable. With it came a cloying and stifling fragrance that hung heavily like a blanket.

_Suffocating._

It didn't take me long to notice the damage, and I abruptly stopped in my tracks.

Gray, browns and blacks mixed together in a sodden patchwork of ashes and charred rubble.

Where the Bazaar used to stand, there was only debris and wreckage. A few of the other nearby structures were suffering mild damage, as well, but nothing to this extent.

The building was completely and utterly decimated, reduced to wet fragments of what used to be a bustling, cheery place.

I walked a bit closer, noticing a few pieces of twisted metal and some shards of broken glass catch the light.

I exhaled loudly in frustration and barely suppressed anger.

_That bastard! He's really done it this time._

Just as I turned away, I noticed a flash of movement from the corner of my eye. I looked sharply to the side, and then blinked when I realized that it was only Fledge.

He was crouching at the far side near some broken beams, a small scrap of green fabric in his hands. It looked like he had pulled it out of the rubble.

I stared, puzzled, for a few seconds, still unnoticed by the other, until I suddenly heard my name being called.

At first I thought it was Fledge, but after his reaction, I confirmed otherwise.

He looked up in confusion, then caught sight of me. His eyes widened in panic and he quickly closed his hand around the small green scrap as though it was a lifeline.

I took a step towards him, "Hey, um, what –"

"Oi, Link!" The other voice called from somewhere behind me, cutting me off. I was about to follow Fledge, but decided against it when I heard my name for a third time.

Fledge took the opportunity to take his leave hastily, vanishing from sight a moment later.

I turned around to see Pipit.

The yellow clad knight looked a bit tired, faint shadows under his usually sharp eyes. I couldn't help but notice the way his gaze darted suspiciously to where Fledge had been.

"Pipit?" I started, "What ha –"

"I knew you'd be here. Are you okay?" he interrupted again, looking back at me. "Where were you?"

I blinked in confusion. How did he know?

"I'm…fine. I was, well – I mean, what happened? Is everyone okay?"

He looked a bit skeptical at my fumbled response, but replied nonetheless.

"After the fire? I guess you could say that. Thankfully, nobody was injured too badly. Just a few minor burns. We don't know what caused it, though. As you can see, the Bazaar was burned to the ground." His expression turned accusatory. "But can you care to explain where the heck you were? Headmaster Gaepora told me to look for you. There're some rumors floating around, you know, and you going missing doesn't help."

I winced. "Sorry. I...uh, should I…go report that I'm okay?"

"No, I'll do that. Just head back to the academy for now; most people are inside anyway. Everyone seems to think that Skyloft's been cursed." He laughed quietly. "I seriously don't think so; there's clearly someone that's behind this."

I swallowed uncomfortably, but nodded.

There was another pause before Pipit grimaced and glanced at my tunic. "Is that blood?"

"What?"

He gestured to my clothing. There were streaks of dried blood staining the fabric.

"What happened?"

I shook my head. "It's nothing. I'll just go change."

"…Okay," he replied after some thought. "Take care, Link." He gave me a nod and a worried smile before following the path that Fledge had taken.

/

After changing into my spare clothes and cleaning up properly, I left my room and decided to go and find out what had really happened.

I felt especially nervous because Ghirahim still hadn't shown his face since I woke up.

When I didn't know where he was, I didn't have any way of knowing what he was up to.

Another reason was that I needed answers, and unfortunately, he was the only person who would be able to provide them.

It wasn't as if I wanted to see him, more that I _needed_ to.

I'd accepted that he wasn't just going to leave me alone very easily, but if I could somehow use him to my advantage, to get my questions answered, then that was what I'd have to do.

After some deliberation, I decided that the person I would benefit most from seeing – besides Ghirahim, ironically – was Karane.

She always had interesting stuff to say, and recently, she'd been looking into the strange occurrences, so she probably had some new info by now.

At the very least, she could tell me about the fire.

When I entered the familiar brightly-lit classroom, I found Karane in her usual place by the bookshelves.

She looked up, relief crossing her face. "Link! So you're okay!"

"Yeah, you're okay, too, right? I, um, heard about the fire."

She nodded and put down the book she was holding. "You did? Have you seen the damage? It really did a number on the Bazaar. It's going to have to be completely rebuilt…Everyone got out alright, luckily. Where were you all this time?"

Again, that question.

"…I was away. Anyway, I wanted to ask you about what happened. I…just got here this morning."

She gave me the same doubtful expression that Pipit had given me, then shrugged. "Anything you want to know, just ask."

"Um…er, just what exactly…?"

She seemed to understand, but she only shook her head. "Okay, well if you really weren't there…"

I nodded once, and she continued.

"Basically, a fire was lit somewhere in the Bazaar yesterday, and somehow a bunch of bombs were there. I dunno if they were the same ones that were stolen – Wait, you knew that, right?"

Another nod.

"Okay, well, because they kind of exploded. We couldn't even do anything about it, and the rain didn't help at all. We had to wait until the flames went out...which wasn't until late, _late_ last night. There's some smoke damage to some of the nearby buildings, and we have to get more supplies now. And it's awful 'cause most – if not all – of the potion and item stocks were destroyed. So be extra careful not to get hurt. Injuries won't heal nearly as quickly without potions."

Karane took a second to catch her breath and then grinned. "Sorry, I'm ranting…"

I grinned back and shrugged half-heartedly, but I wasn't really paying attention anymore.

Was this Ghirahim's goal? To destroy all of the supplies?

I mentally denied it.

If that was his only goal, then he could have done it more efficiently. Then again, he always did like adding his own flair to things.

And what about all the problems he'd caused earlier?

How did they have anything to do with each other?

There had to be some kind of connection, no matter how obscure it may be. Ghirahim might have been extravagant and melodramatic sometimes, but I knew that he didn't do things without reason.

I was about to speak when Karane began again.

"We're actually going to scavenge for stuff later. We were just waiting for the storm to die out. It was raining all night, but it only started to calm down recently. I'm pretty sure we'll have to wait until tomorrow morning, though. It's going to get too dark to find anything pretty soon."

_How late _is _it?_

It suddenly registered that I had been out for over a day.

I tried not to let my surprise show.

"I'll help, too."

"That'd be great." She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. In fact, she wasn't even making eye contact anymore. "It's nice to have help. A lot of the other Skyloftians are feeling too uneasy about it…"

"That's understandable," I agreed.

Karane nodded absently, but then frowned. "Are you sure you weren't at the fire yesterday?"

"What do you mean?"

She looked down with the same strange expression, and I tried in vain to figure out what she was looking at, but then shrugged as though trying to move on. Her eyes locked on to my arm, and I gave her a confused look. Her gaze flitted away.

"Never mind. It's nothing." Her voice lowered, "By the way, have you seen Fledge lately? I didn't see him much yesterday…"

"Yeah, I saw him outside. He was near the wreckage."

Karane didn't look surprised. "Okay, just keep an eye on him. I just know he's involved in this somehow."

I averted my gaze. "I _really_ hope you're wrong."

/

It was a complete accident – and a coincidence at the same time.

I'd been trying to find Fledge, but I hadn't really expected to find him so easily. Or Pipit, for that matter.

Ironically, I'd found them both in the same place; outside, standing near a side wall of the Knight's Academy and having some sort of discussion.

It was almost laughable how I went unnoticed, how I ended up eavesdropping like some criminal – again.

Ghirahim would have found it pathetic –

I swallowed dryly, forcing thoughts of the demon from my mind.

I was thinking about him much too frequently. It had to stop.

My attention was diverted as Pipit sighed exasperatedly and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, I know you were outside earlier and you had something with you. Now, what were you holding? Did you find it in the debris?"

I remembered the green scrap Fledge had been clutching earlier.

From my vantage point, I could see the two Skyloftians without them seeing me.

Fledge looked at the ground with a guilty expression. Pipit's brows were drawn together in forced patience, and he was about to speak again when the other beat him to it.

"Er, I was going to show you anyways…" he sheepishly stated.

With an almost pained expression, he pulled out the green fabric and held it out. It was dirty and slightly burned, as though it had been in the fire.

Pipit snatched it and gave it a careful look before his eyes widened.

"Where exactly was this?"

"J-just in the debris."

Something in his voice told me he was lying, maybe it was the lack of eye contact, the excessive stuttering; but I tried not to focus on it. It may have just been nerves. Pipit could be a bit overbearing sometimes.

The yellow clad knight nodded stiffly after a few seconds, a somewhat shaken look passing over his face.

"I'll have to look into this…" he muttered to himself before looking back at Fledge.

"Hey, what're you doing here, Link?"

A voice behind me – for the second time today – that was clearly not Pipit's made me jump, and I quickly glanced back to see that there was someone else there. I flinched visibly. I hadn't heard them approach.

"_Groose_?!"

"Why're you sneaking around?" he asked, golden-yellow eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You – wait…"

He caught sight of Pipit and Fledge, and then looked back at me, "You're listening in?"

I winced, "Can you talk a bit quieter?"

But it was too late by then and Pipit had already sensed a disturbance. He was coming closer. Once he saw me, his eyes attained a guarded quality. "Link, what are you doing?"

"I, uh, I just kind of…overheard you guys," I managed awkwardly.

Groose sniggered and smoothed out a few strands of his red hair. "Yeah, 'overheard'…"

Just then, Fledge moved closer, eyes widening as he saw me and Groose. The moment he caught sight of me, he seemed to shrink into himself.

I turned back to the others.

"Okay, fine, but what about y –"

I stopped mid-sentence when I noticed Fledge's strange look.

He kept looking at my arm.

I glanced down and blinked once when I realized that part of the fabric was singed, a small-ish rip going up to my shoulder. I hadn't noticed that earlier, but then again, I hadn't been paying attention to the condition of my clothes at the time.

This was my extra tunic, so I hadn't expected it to have any rips in it…

That was probably what Karane had been looking at when I was talking with her. I guess that explained her confusion when I told her that I wasn't at the fire, even though the singed fabric begged otherwise.

I remembered the green fabric that Fledge had found earlier, the piece that Pipit was holding.

I looked at Pipit, eyes catching on the green piece of cloth he held.

He must have had the same idea because realization and something akin to relief flitted across his face. Groose didn't seem to have noticed the silent exchange.

"I, um, Groose, you can go back now. Fledge, I have some stuff to discuss with you. And you too, Link."

Groose's eyebrows drew together stubbornly. "What? No way! I'm not going anywhere."

Pipit looked strained. "Groose, don't argue."

The tall redhead made a face and then sighed in resignation after a few moments upon realizing that he wasn't going to get his way.

"Fine, fine. Well, I guess I'm off. I was only following Link; it's not my fault he came here."

"What?" I blurted out, "Why the heck –"

He gave me a surprised look as though he hadn't meant to say that much.

"Uh, never mind. See ya later."

I was about to call him back when Pipit coughed pointedly. The redhead gave a small wave and then headed back inside.

Turning back to the others, I exhaled heavily. "Okay, what's going on?"

"According to this," Pipit held up the green fabric, "you should be the one telling us what's going on. At first I thought it was Karane's, but..."

Fledge's eyes were still averted and he refused to look at me, Pipit, or the green swatch.

I breathed a silent 'oh' when I finally understood Pipit's reaction. He was worried that it was from Karane's tunic, which was pretty much the same color as mine.

I looked at the other knight, "I have no idea if that's even mine."

"It looks exactly like the rip in your sleeve."

"But I don't even know where that's from either!" I retorted, "Fledge!"

"…Y-yeah?"

"You said you found this in the wreckage, right?" I demanded.

_If they seriously think I had anything to do with the fire…_

Fledge nodded weakly without meeting my eyes.

"Okay, but that still doesn't prove that I did anything. I wasn't even there."

"But it's the only thing we can go on!" Pipit countered.

He was grasping at straws, and I couldn't really blame him.

Ghirahim's actions were scaring everyone, so it was a given that people would jump at whatever answers presented themselves, even if they were ridiculous.

He'd certainly succeeded in making everyone paranoid, including myself.

"I know, but you have to trust me. I have nothing to do with this and I don't even know how I got that rip. How do you know that this fabric is from my tunic anyway?"

"Link, I think it's pretty clear."

There had to be something I could say to change his mind. "What about earlier? When you were talking to me outside? There was blood on the sleeve. There weren't any rips!"

Fledge went pale at the mention of blood, and if I was guessing right, it was probably because he was worried that Ghirahim had hurt me.

I was almost 100% certain that Ghirahim had been threatening Fledge.

Pipit pursed his lips as he suddenly realized that his accusation didn't make much sense anymore.

He shook his head. "Fine. But what of it? As I said earlier, this is all we have to go on, and seeing that this –" He motioned towards the slightly charred piece of green fabric, "– matches the rip on your tunic...I mean, why else would it match? I really don't think someone deliberately went to all this trouble to frame you."

"...What?" I said reflexively, to which Pipit rolled his eyes.

"I said –"

"No, I know, it's just that..."

A sudden flashback of Fledge carrying green fabric – a bundle of it – replayed in my head.

I had run into him in the hallway and he'd seemed really nervous. At the time, I hadn't really thought much of it. I'd been too caught up in my own problems to see what was right in front of me.

He'd been carrying my spare tunic – the one I was wearing now – so that he could create that rip and make it look like I set that fire, when really...he did.

Because Ghirahim threatened him.

But why?

And now, he apparently 'found' a scrap of green cloth that mysteriously matched the rip in my spare tunic.

If I thought back on it, then I realized that when I saw Fledge outside today – when he 'found' the fabric – the picture didn't match.

He was probably waiting for someone to come along and ask him about it. And that someone had been Pipit.

It still didn't explain why Pipit had known where I'd be earlier.

It was likely another of Ghirahim's doings.

"It was _him, _wasn't it?" I blurted out before I could help myself.

"Who?" Fledge asked nervously.

I shot him a look, and the other tensed automatically when he realized who I was referring to.

Ghirahim. So he _had_ been in contact with him.

Surprisingly, Fledge actually managed to look at me this time, eyes fearful and guilty.

Yet he still shook his head.

"Okay, you don't have to admit to anything," I conceded, "but just...I'll handle this."

I could see Pipit's mystified look from the corner of my eyes, could feel his confusion, but I didn't really feel like explaining anything now. It would take too long and I didn't want him to get the wrong idea.

Besides, I didn't want any more people involved in this than there already were.

"A-are you sure?" Fledge asked with uncertainty. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"No, it's fine. I think I get it now," I added. "So I'll see you two some other time?"

Fledge nodded, but Pipit opened his mouth to speak. "Wait, Li –"

The words died on his lips as I turned back to leave, quickly heading back inside to get my supplies and to search Fledge's room.

I was sure he had something important of mine, and unless Ghirahim decided to show up, I'd be able to continue on the path laid down for me – and I'd definitely get Fi back.

Yet even though the pieces were falling into place, I knew that something wasn't right. Something was wrong.

Even if I got Fi back, even if I could continue with my quest and save Zelda…

Everything had been done for a reason, for some greater cause.

And it felt as though if Ghirahim wasn't stopped, Skyloft would be destroyed from the inside, and we'd all become sacrifices.


	7. Pursue

**[UNEDITED]**

**Disclaimer: Nintendo owns TLoZ.**

/

_Part II: Chapter VII_

_~Pursue~_

/

From a young age, I knew that my life wasn't going to be easy. Everything I set out to do was always made more difficult by something or other. This had always been a source of frustration, but I did my best to be patient.

Finding the Ruby Tablet was no exception, and it was definitely a more difficult feat than I'd imagined. As usual, I tried to be patient, but this was seriously pushing my limits.

Ghirahim surely had something to do with this-even though he denied it-as did-from what I'd gathered-Fledge.

That was why I'd gone straight to Fledge's room when I found out that he was involved in this. I probably should have noticed it earlier; his strange behavior, the way that he was being overly nervous, among other factors. But at the time, I had brushed it off, which proved to be a bad decision, a huge miscalculation, on my part. If I had known something was up with Fledge earlier, many of my current problems wouldn't even exist.

For one, the Bazaar being burned down; I knew now that Ghirahim had blackmailed him into doing it, and getting me framed. Secondly; back to the Ruby Tablet. I had the distinct feeling that Fledge had it stashed away somewhere.

Specifically, on Ghirahim's orders, and out of fear.

But for some reason-and this couldn't possibly make a lot of sense-it wasn't anywhere in his room, even though I knew it was…

Or at least, it _had been_ at one time.

As I did one final search of the room, I knew I had to face the truth: that no matter how many times I looked, I wouldn't find the Ruby Tablet here. Not anymore, at least.

I was too late. Somebody had moved it.

I closed my eyes and sighed before glancing around the room for what had to be the hundredth time, in vain.

Just as I was about to leave, hand poised near the door knob, I heard a soft bump from the other side of the wood. My hand froze in midair and I listened intently again, thinking that Fledge had returned, perhaps.

Either way, the sound didn't repeat itself. I mentally shrugged it off and then opened the door to leave.

I didn't have anything else I had to do here, but maybe if I just asked Fledge straight up-

The moment I turned the door knob, there was a sudden shuffling sound, followed by rushed footsteps that decreased in volume.

Had someone been listening through the door?

The first thing that jumped to the forefront of my mind was 'Ghirahim'. But I knew that that would be ridiculous. I would have...felt his presence beforehand, and he wouldn't have been listening at the door anyway. He was-well, I guess he was above that. Besides, he wasn't so clumsy. The second thing that I thought was 'Who the hell is it, then?'

I felt a surge of alarm, but I pushed it back down, not wanting to freak out. Lately, I knew that my nerves were getting to me, which couldn't be a good thing. Ghirahim was bothering me more than I wanted to admit, mainly due to the fact that I didn't really know what he was up to. Ironically, paranoia was the exact thing I needed to be the most wary of.

'Paranoid about paranoia?' I grimaced, pushing the door open. 'That's messed up on so many levels…'

Without wasting further time, I glanced cautiously down the hallway, a tall, familiar redhead's quickly retreating figure being the first thing I noticed. Nobody else was in the hall, so it had to be him: Groose. I didn't know whether to be amused or irritated until I realized that those two emotions were so typical of Ghirahim that he had to be rubbing off on me somehow.

I forced thoughts of the demon out of my mind, consciously making myself think about Groose instead.

Suddenly, I remembered what the redhead had said earlier; that he had been following me. I internally groaned. Goddess, if he was caught up in this, then that meant that it wasn't just Fledge who had contact with Ghirahim.

That meant that this whole…thing…or whatever it was called was worse than I thought.

"Hey! Groose!" I called, pulling the door closed behind me before jogging to catch up.

He stiffened noticeably at the sound of my voice before continuing on his way, pretending he hadn't heard me. It was a dead giveaway.

"Groose, wait up!"

After a few moments, he slowed down and turned to face me with an uncharacteristically nervous expression. His yellow-ish eyes were uneasy and he awkwardly adjusted his hair, despite it looking the same as it always did. "Yeah, what d'you want, Link?" Despite his words being saturated in suspicion, his baritone voice remained confident nonetheless.

"Were you just outside Fledge's room?" I asked bluntly, "Why are you following me?"

There was a moment of hesitation before Groose just shrugged, the nervous mannerisms being replaced as a defeated air passed over his boyish features, "…So what if I was? Not anymore."

"…Why?"

He put his hands on his hips defensively, "Why do you care?"

I bit my tongue to prevent myself from snapping back at his brazenness. It would be completely uncharacteristic of me, and probably wouldn't accomplish anything. I could even tell that he still had a grudge against me.

That, already, wasn't helping matters. It was ever since he noticed that Zelda and I were closer than he was to her, ever since I beat him at the last Wing Ceremony...and now he was spying on me for some obscure reason. It would have been almost comical how terrible he was at sneaking around if not for the other problems that crowded my mind.

"Why do you think I care why?" I retorted tiredly.

He seemed momentarily confused at my inelegant response before he just rolled his eyes, "I don't know. Don't ask me."

I ground my teeth together, "You're saying you don't know why you were just standing outside that door?" I gestured vaguely behind me towards Fledge's room as my exasperation rose a notch, causing the other Skyloftian to huff irritably.

"Fine, don't be so…" He let the sentence hang unfinished so I could draw my own conclusions, then he waved a hand dismissively, "Anyway, why would I want to tail a slacker like you? If you really want to know, go ask the headmaster; he's the one who told me to."

I almost visibly flinched, but only gave him a pointed look at the 'slacker' jibe-'I'm not that lazy…'-and nodded, "Okay, I will." I paused, "And can you stop sneaking around? It's…creeping me out."

He rolled his eyes again and nodded. I was glad he wasn't going to make a big deal of this. He'd already bothered me enough in the past, so the fact that he wasn't picking a fight was also a relief, "Yeah, yeah. By the way, since when did you talk so much?"

With a bit of effort, I ignored the last comment, but in truth, I wasn't really listening anymore. I was still processing his comment about the Knight Academy's headmaster. Why would he ask Groose to spy on me? Did that mean that Groose didn't actually have anything to do with Ghirahim and that Headmaster Gaepora did? Or was that completely separate?

It was only on rare occasions that I got headaches.

Now was one of those occasions.

/

It had been three days already since confronting Groose, and I was feeling more nervous than usual. And it wasn't because anything had happened.

No, it was the opposite.

It was because there was too much…nothingness.

Because Ghirahim had yet to show himself again.

It was like a false sense of security; the supposed calm before the storm. That was why I had to keep myself alert. There was no telling what would happen if I let my guard down. I knew that there was no way that Ghirahim was going to leave me-or, for that matter, Skyloft-alone. He wouldn't give up so easily with whatever he was doing.

It was like sitting and just waiting for something bad to happen, waiting for the horrible inevitable. Or perhaps more like falling and seeing the ground get closer and closer with each second, but being unable to save yourself from that unavoidable moment when both your fall and-most likely-your life would end.

And knowing the whole time that there was no backup plan, no way to wake up from the terrible dream that had essentially become reality.

Now, I was in the situation where I was just waiting for Ghirahim to do something. I may as well have been standing at the top of the Goddess statue, all the while shouting, 'It's your turn, Ghirahim! Come and get me 'cause I'm not going to do anything until you do!'

The corner of my mouth twitched in amusement at the thought as I reassured myself, 'No…It's not that bad…'

If I could just get out of this loop of waiting for Ghirahim to act first, then I might actually stand a chance against him. The one who strikes first wins, right?

When I noticed the odd silence, paired with the look the headmaster was giving me, I quickly rearranged my features from whatever expression my thoughts had provoked before.

"E-er, could you please repeat that?" I asked clumsily when I'd gathered my bearings. Quickly, I mentally berated myself for getting distracted. I couldn't afford to waste my time talking to the headmaster. After waiting three days for the chance to get a proper conversation with Zelda's father, the last thing I wanted to do was to mess it up. He was busy enough, what with all the commotion happening recently. Getting the chance to have a proper conversation with him was lucky in itself in the current circumstances.

He paused appraisingly and then nodded once. "Yes, I will. I was saying that-"

Ironically, there was suddenly an ill-timed knock at the door to which he stopped mid-sentence. I looked back at the entrance just as Headmaster Gaepora said, "Come in."

Karane marched in, a scowl on her face. She blinked when she noticed my presence, expression clearing only marginally when giving me a quick half-smile. She turned back to the headmaster. "Sorry to bother you, but I have some important info to report. It's about some recent developments." The knight paused, glancing back at me, then added, "But I can let you know another time, too. It's not urgent..."

Gaepora shook his head, "Now's fine. Link? Could you please wait a few moments? I'm sure this won't take long."

"Sure." I nodded, about to leave the room when he stopped me.

"You can stay here."

I nodded again, moving a bit off to the side.

Karane looked back at me once before she started sifting through a few loose pieces of parchment she held. Her scowl returned. "Well, this isn't really the only thing I wanted to talk to you about, but anyway…Lately, I was put in charge of some minor duties regarding the Bazaar…So, I was getting others to help scavenge the wreckage-Link was there, too-" She motioned towards me, referring to when I'd helped her a few days prior, "-and I found something kind of weird. It's like a small slab of stone with-"

_The Ruby Tablet?_

It took less than a second for relief partnered with a tight, contradictory anxious feeling to swell in my chest at the last remark, but I tried not to show it. A flash of realization sparked in the headmaster's intelligent eyes.

"Excuse me, but is this what you're referring to?" Headmaster Gaepora abruptly turned around to pick up something that was off to the side, that neither Karane nor I had noticed before. He turned back, holding up a 'small slab of stone.' I openly gaped.

Why the hell hadn't I seen that earlier?

I took an involuntary step forward, unable to hold my tongue, "H-hey, that's-!"

"Yeah, that's exactly it!" Karane spoke at the same time as me, her irritation from before vanishing instantly, "I saw it just two days ago, but then it disappeared! It looked kind of important…"

What an understatement.

I must have looked blatantly shocked, for the pretty redhead glanced at me, raising an eyebrow quizzically, "Wait, what? You've seen this before, too?"

There was a long silence, Karane levelling a confused, yet equally suspicious look, whilst the headmaster looked at the two of us carefully. I bit my lip nervously, breaking the silence, "I…I mean, that's mine…"

"But I found it in the rubble." The other interrupted, putting a gauntlet-clad hand on her hip, "You said you weren't at the fire, though."

"No, I wasn't-"

There was an exasperated sigh that made us both look up. The headmaster started pacing, bushy white eyebrows furrowed more keenly than usual, "Before any accusations start, I'd like to hear both sides of the story. These are difficult times, and there cannot be any further complications." He glanced down at the Ruby Tablet, then back at me, "I had a feeling that Link would be involved in this."

I blinked once at the cryptic comment, but just nodded as Karane replied with a polite, "Yes, headmaster."

"…I understand." I agreed vocally after a moment, looking sidelong at Karane, "You first, then."

She smiled just slightly at the admission, "Okay, well, two days ago, I was looking in the rubble-like I said, I was assigned to help clean the area and find anything salvageable. I was with Link and a few other knights-or knights-in-training. So, as we were looking around, I happened to notice _that_," She pointed at the Ruby Tablet that I had long sought out and that was now held infuriatingly calmly by the headmaster, "just sitting there, half-buried in the ashes-but it wasn't damaged. It was just a bit dusty.

"Since it didn't look like wreckage, I took it and was going to ask some of the others about it…but…I decided not to. I guess I just had a funny feeling about it; it seems…I don't know…" I could tell she was thinking 'suspicious', but chose not to say it, "So I took it inside and put it in my room."

I was severely tempted to interrupt her and demand to know why it wasn't in Fledge's room, like it should have been, but refrained. I knew that she didn't know any more than I did about the relic's other whereabouts.

The Ruby Tablet had probably been in Fledge's room, then somewhere else, before it was moved outside to the rubble and then taken back inside to Karane's room. And now the headmaster had somehow gotten it in his possession.

Dammit, why was it so hard to get it back? It was mine in the first place…

'Ghirahim…' I thought as I suppressed a sigh.

Karane brushed back a few reddish strands of hair that had fallen in her eyes, "I left it there for only a day, since I was busy, but when I went to go check for it, it wasn't there anymore. Yesterday, I was looking around for it, but I didn't have much luck. Thing is, I was going to bring it to you anyway, so I'm glad you got a hold of it somehow…"

She trailed off, eyes drifting away from the headmaster, thoughtful for a moment.

I opened my mouth to speak, but she continued, cutting me off early.

"By the way, I wanted to give you these papers. They're just some lists of supplies for the new Bazaar we're going to have built. You know." She passed over the small stack, the sound of rustling paper filling the room for a few seconds as Headmaster Gaepora flipped through them quickly.

He thumbed one of the pages, "I'll talk with some of the instructors so we can arrange a group of knights to gather the supplies. There won't be enough resources here in Skyloft." Looking back up from the papers, he placed them off to the side.

"Thank you, Karane." He said kindly, next turning his attention to me, "Link?"

"Yes?"

"You said this was yours, didn't you? Does it concern your…quest, by any chance?"

A tight twisting sensation in my gut made me cringe guiltily. Hopefully, he wouldn't think me too irresponsible after this. "Yes, it does, but there were some problems, and I lost possession of it. I've, um, been looking for it for a long time now."

I could sense that Gaepora knew I was omitting a lot of details, but he didn't ask about it, instead handing the Ruby Tablet over to me carefully, as though I was going to drop it.

Karane shuffled her feet awkwardly on the floor, the sound making me look over at her. Her eyes sparked with a mixture of confusion and intrigue, but I just shrugged when she met my gaze. It just made me feel worse, adding to the dark swirling vortex of intangible _stuff _that was constantly fogging up my mind recently.

Helplessness was a terrible feeling.

I clutched the Ruby Tablet closer to my body; it was pathetic, but I was worried that if I let go of it, if I didn't keep it under careful watch, that it would just disappear again and that my path forward would be barricaded once more.

Even shortly afterwards, as I left both Karane and Headmaster Gaepora's company, I could feel the weight of the situation heavily on my shoulders, threatening to crush me. Not surprisingly, Gaepora's last reminder lingered, nestled in a corner of my mind, refusing to disappear or be forgotten.

"_You can't afford to make any more mistakes. We're counting on you."_

/

The heat was terrible, suffocating, hazy, oppressive.

On any other occasion, that might not have been accurate.

On any other occasion, it could have been nice to just relax in the Sun's blazing rays like some heat-loving creature, to bathe and revel in the tongues of warmth that were positively lapping at the world below-which was already strange considering the cloud barrier.

_On any other occasion._

Right now, I didn't have time for relaxing, though, and the dry, hot weather was just a hindrance. Even inside, it wasn't exactly an ideal temperature, and I could feel myself tiring from both the previous physical exertion and from the heat that seemed to sap my energy.

'Skyview Temple was never this hot. Then again, there wasn't a volcano there...' I thought absently as I did a quick item check. 'I'm almost done here, though.'

Just yesterday, I had been talking with Headmaster Gaepora. That was when I got the Ruby Tablet back. He had gotten it from another student of the academy, but he never told me who it was. Apparently, that student had gotten it from Karane's room-which made sense-and thought it looked suspicious.

Because of this, that person had given it to the headmaster for safekeeping.

Ultimately, it honestly didn't matter who had brought it to him, but I still wished that I knew.

Still, all it told me was that there were more people involved in…the weird stuff going on-whatever it was called-than I would have ever wished. It was almost as if Ghirahim had planted a seed of paranoia in everyone's minds just so that he could more easily manipulate them.

Or he was just doing this for his own amusement, which was admittedly more worrying than any other possible reason for his actions. Even so, it had been a few days since I had felt his presence around. For some reason, a small part of my mind was anxious to see him again. I didn't pay it any mind. It was probably just because of that 'thread of fate' or whatever he had called it. Either that, or it was just my paranoia getting to me.

What made matters worse was that Ghirahim was still a step ahead of everyone, including me. Still, if all went according to plans, then maybe it would be possible to get Fi back and protect Zelda…And possibly defeat the self-proclaimed demon lord.

And he likely wasn't having as hard a time getting things done as I was. It certainly wasn't as though he had people tailing him, like I had…

"_I actually came to ask you about Groose." I had said sometime before Karane was going to enter, not sure how to broach the topic. Headmaster Gaepora didn't look surprised._

_His expression was shrewd, eyes sharp and intelligent, yet still gentle, "I'm assuming that he told you himself?"_

_A nod of affirmation, a tactless response due to nerves. "Yeah. He said he was following me because you told him to." The tense anticipation before a hopefully favorable response._

"Yes, that is true. _I apologize for worrying you, but, as I'm sure you know, there are quite a few…er…rumors about you and your alleged participation in certain…" There was a pause as the right word was fished around for, "…unfortunate incidences. I had to take precautions."_

"_Wait, so…you really believe the rumors?"_

_My eyebrows knit together with barely repressed incredulity; however, my disbelief was short-lived._

_He sighed, "Personally, I don't; not given your current situation. Because of certain events, you've probably noticed a change of atmosphere in Skyloft. People are more secretive, distrustful. Because of this, I told a few others-including Groose-that I thought it would be best to monitor you. This was mostly so that others would feel more secure. Not because I actually believe the rumors."_

"_Oh." Thank Farore._

"_I only hope that my trust isn't misplaced."_

I brushed the memory off.

If this had been some sort of judged contest, I liked to think that I would get more points for effort, and for the sheer amount of problems I had had to work through. I doubted that Ghirahim had people deliberately trying to sabotage his plans.

Besides me.

Hopefully, things would change soon, though.

I had already, _somehow,_ gotten to the end of the Earth Temple where Eldin Volcano was, and I had to say I pretty satisfied with myself. Through sheer will, I had managed to get this far without Fi in a pretty short period of time, but it wasn't really until I jumped off my loftwing into the beam of red light through the cloud barrier that I realized _exactly_ how much I missed her.

It felt as though twice the amount of effort was required to accomplish whatever endeavors I set out to do.

After placing the Ruby Tablet in the Goddess Statue, it would have been helpful to know what sorts of trials were awaiting me in the new region that had become accessible…If Fi had been there, she probably could have told me a bit about the Eldin Volcano beforehand, and could have told me how to prepare myself for it.

The scenery, and the sudden blast of warm air that hit me when I fell below the clouds wouldn't have been as much of a shock then.

When I finally had the chance to explore the area, Fi's lack of presence was even more glaringly apparent.

…And if Fi had been there to tell me that a Fire Keese would render my shield completely and utterly unusable, then I would have been able to get a different, better shield, beforehand…Unfortunately, the Bazaar's fire had mangled and destroyed any of the Iron Shields, so even if I had known, it would have been for nothing.

As for a weapon, since I still didn't have Fi back, I was forced to ask the Knight Commander Eagus for another.

"_You need another one, Link?!" Commander Eagus raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Hadn't you just asked for one a little while back?"_

_I forced out a laugh as some more disturbing memories were dredged up. "W-well, I…had, but…"_

_He shook his head in amused disapproval, "Whatever happened to it doesn't matter anymore. Just try to be more careful with this sword, okay?"_

I grimaced and then placed my hand on the hilt of the sheathed weapon. If I managed to lose possession of this sword too, though, I would never live it down. Its edges were a bit more roughened up, not as sharp as the edges on the goddess sword, but it would have to do, seeing that I didn't have any other options. One major thing that this sword didn't have was a dowsing function, like Fi made possible with the goddess sword.

It was pure luck that I'd managed to find those Key Shards to the Earth Temple's entryway so quickly without dowsing.

After I'd finally gotten entrance, I'd just tried to get through the temple as quickly as I could.

It took me about a day to get to the large-ish door where I knew the temple's boss was on the other side of. There had been no trips to Skyloft, since the Bazaar had burned down so there were no potions to buy or supplies I could upgrade, and there had been no rests either. I had just done the temple all at once.

It was almost as though I was trying to make up for all the wasted time before. _I needed to catch up to Zelda, I needed to make sure she was okay. _The thought of taking rests hadn't been appealing.

Consequently, although I was in shape, I had exerted myself way too much, and I felt completely drained as a result.

I finally, reluctantly, gave in to my body's protests and sank to the stones under my booted feet, leaning against the door. I had already checked all my supplies-even though they were few-and so I was technically ready to fight the temple's boss whenever I wanted to.

After a bit of rest, I would head in to face whatever was waiting…

Well, that was what I told myself. That was what I came here to do.

Still, there was an ominous haze that had begun to set in-so painfully _familiar _that it clouded my mind, made me stall before straining to open the door.

I knew that my life had never been easy, and that was why I was beginning to question my problems with Ghirahim since I arrived in the Eldin province-or more accurately, lack thereof.

For a second, I considered abandoning the Earth Temple altogether. In the end, I stayed.

Maybe I should have left while it was still an option.


	8. Impasse

**[UNEDITED]**

**Disclaimer: Nintendo owns TLoZ.**

/

_Part II: Chapter VIII_

_~Impasse~_

/

The sound of doors closing behind me made me flinch, but I continued forward. A dusty heat rose from the ground at a steady rate, making the air feel heavier and thicker as I continued along, dual gates running along both sides of the path.

My footsteps caused more dust to be disrupted, and I coughed a few times. It didn't seem like many people had ventured through here. I did feel a sense of pleasant familiarity, though. But it was fleeting.

'Zelda,' I thought immediately, disregarding the darker undertone that pulsed through the cavernous room. More urgency welled in my chest. Hopefully, she was alright and I wasn't too late. I wouldn't be able to face it if all of this was for naught, and Headmaster Gaepora would never forgive me.

As he'd said, I couldn't afford to make any more mistakes.

Ironically, avoiding mistakes seemed like aspiring to do the impossible. Ghirahim was making sure of that, and I had already made enough blunders.

I continued up a short set of stairs and then jumped down about eight feet onto another, longer stretch of ground. It was like a ramp, with curvature similar to that of a large creatures' slightly deformed spine. Along the edges of the incline, ragged bone-like shards arched outwards.

By the time I was about halfway up the ramp, I noticed something that I had missed earlier, too blinded by my determination to get to Zelda. I froze in dismay and looked up as the sound of a laugh reached my ears.

High above me, and still fairly far away, was Ghirahim, perched on the top of a statue of what appeared to be a dragon's head. Despite the distance that separated us, I could still see him smirk at me mockingly.

"Oh, it's you."

/

I probably should have expected something like this to happen. Nothing ever seemed to go my way.

Swords clanged against each other loudly, the sound sudden and jarring. I winced when the blades locked together and the metallic surfaces scraped slowly, roughly, the strain flowing from one to the other. The sound was headache-inducing.

My knuckles were turning white with how tightly I gripped the hilt of the sword and I tried not to pay attention to the way I was starting to tire from overexertion.

"You've quite the resolve, sky child." Ghirahim grinned elatedly, eyes narrowing when I forced the blades to unlock. I backed up a few steps, feet moving shoulder width apart as I regained my balance. "Even though you're tiring, your determination doesn't waver. Is the spirit maiden really that important to you, or is it that sword spirit of yours?"

His voice was velvet, but the words and the intonation didn't correlate with his almost ungracefully immediate bout of silence post speech. He seemed almost spiteful, resentful, as though offended. He took a moment to look away with an almost theatric air, as though to cast away whatever plagued his mind. I frowned, wary, but curious all the same.

And what, did he expect me to leave Zelda and Fi for dead? Well, I wasn't sure that Fi was actually _able_ to die, but that was beside the point and I didn't want to risk it.

"They _both_ are important," I replied instinctively, ignoring his sudden lapse in speech.

Ghirahim peered back at me with a raised eyebrow. "I see."

I expected more, but he merely vanished in a plethora of gem-hued diamonds. I spun around just in time to parry a blow from one of the black rapiers he wielded. When a few sparks glanced off of the blades from the impact, a flicker of fear ignited my veins with panic.

What if the sword I was using didn't hold out? It wasn't as durable as the goddess sword by far.

He used the identical weapon in his other hand to slice diagonally downwards, where I lacked defense.

I mentally swore when I felt the tip of the knife-like blade tear through the fabric of my green tunic on my left side. Slicing through the small links of chainmail and the white undershirt, I barely felt the coldness of the metal as it grazed my skin. The cut started to sting, and I knew it had to be bleeding now, even though I wasn't sure exactly how deep it was.

Thankfully, he wasn't using daggers. As I was, sans shield, I would have had an even more difficult time. I would have been dodging the entire time. This way, I could parry and block attacks with more ease.

Ghirahim backed off for a moment and ran his snake-like tongue over the length of the rapier's blade. I tensed at the action and shivered instinctively when I noticed that it _did _have some streaks of blood on it.

I looked down at the rip along the side of my tunic, grimacing when I saw the inky blood that was starting to stain it.

"How much longer will the chosen hero last?" Ghirahim taunted, lowering his weapon. I almost wanted to just get out of here, but that wasn't an option.

There were no available exits, and because of the lava that was likely waiting somewhere underneath the ramp, I needed to be especially careful with my footing, so running or being hasty was hardly wise anyway.

I'd already run away from him in the past, like that day that felt so long ago when I'd met him in my room back in Skyloft. I didn't want to do it again. Even though I hated to admit it, it would be a huge blow to my ego, and I didn't know if I could get away with it again.

"Where is she?" I demanded instead, trying not to let myself be distracted.

Ghirahim blinked slowly. "She?" He cocked his head, silvery hair swaying with the action. His blue diamond earring caught the reddish light strangely, making the crystal look two-toned. "Oh, you mean the spirit maiden. Of course."

"So? Where is-"

I stopped when his expression darkened and his eyes glinted. "Why, as I told you before, she…" His fingers tensed around the hilts of his rapiers, twitching with barely suppressed anger. "…escaped."

His earlier outburst swept into the forefront of my mind. He was upset that Zelda had gotten away.

At the time, I'd thought he was going to unleash some other creature on me, let it do the dirty work. But after marginally regaining his composure, he'd thrown the thought aside.

"_Even though I have such a full schedule, I have the feeling you're not going to be giving up anytime soon, and after all this, I believe I'd quite rather deal with you myself. You wouldn't mind that, would you? It would help alleviate some of my anger, you see. It can't possibly be healthy to bottle it up like this."_

The only other time I'd seen him really lose it before that had been back at Skyview Temple. It was disconcerting to see him act in such a way. On the other hand, when had he ever acted normally?

"…So you really don't know where she is?" I retorted after a lengthy pause, my question sounding more like a statement. I guess I just hadn't believed him earlier-more like I didn't _want _to believe him, because if he knew where Zelda was, I could probably use that to my advantage, maybe bargain with him, or something-anything to save her.

His expression told me enough; he really didn't know her location. Now, neither of us had any idea where she could be.

Silence ensued, and again, swords clashed and I held my ground, even when I found my actions lagging.

I was tempted to bring up our previous encounters, but it somehow didn't feel appropriate. At the same time, I felt either too embarrassed or too humiliated to talk about certain parts of it of my own volition.

A confused sort of anger was also existent, for why had he done all of those things in Skyloft? Nobody seemed to trust me anymore, and I no longer even felt safe there. It was as if, after all this, I'd be returning to a place full of strangers.

The two blades clashed once more, yanking me unceremoniously back to the present.

I wasn't even sure how long we ended up sparring.

At some point, something changed and Ghirahim's actions became less rehearsed and more impatient.

Then he was gone, and before I could react, Ghirahim appeared behind me, covered my mouth and nose with a gloved hand, and I suddenly couldn't breathe.

Panic ignited my veins.

I struggled for a few moments, the heat and my exhaustion making every movement difficult. I tried to rip his hand off of my mouth, simultaneously trying to strike him with my sword, but his grip didn't waver, and I suddenly felt a hand wrap around my other wrist.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, my struggling ceased, and a haziness clouded over my eyes, the burning in my lungs growing so overwhelming that I couldn't hang on any longer.

Numbly, my body slumped down into his arms and the world darkened around me.

/

Waves of red lapped sluggishly at a bloodstained shore, thick syrupy ripples disrupting the surface. The stench was vile, repulsive, like that of rotting flesh. Near the shore were a few decrepit stone structures. A sickly moss crawled in between the fissures of the crumbling bricks, its pallor an off-white; congealed and decaying.

The acid tanginess of the blood made me grimace.

Without thinking, I lifted my hand to my face, as though to shield my eyes from the appalling sight, but then paused when I noticed something strange about my skin, visible through the ugly rips in my clothing; I was so pale. Deathly pale. Veins that snaked under translucent skin, a deep violet.

It looked as though I'd never stepped outside before.

A brush against my arm made me flinch.

I hastily looked to the side, my gaze meeting with a pair of dark eyes that could only belong to Ghirahim. I could see myself reflected in the murky pools, and I took a sharp intake of breath. I looked…almost dead. Not like myself.

A gentle, unexpected touch along my cheek shook me out of my reverie, and Ghirahim laughed softly at my reaction. "Look, sky child."

He gestured above us at the sky, diverting my attention.

All I saw was a deep burgundy color. There were no blues, no violets, oranges or pinks. It was as if someone had taken a brush and had painted the world in different shades of red. Like blood.

I felt sick.

"Isn't it striking?" The demon said rather wistfully, but with a touch of dramatics.

I didn't respond.

"Is something wrong?" Ghirahim asked suddenly. I could see him looking at me from the corner of my eyes, and I obliged him by meeting his gaze. "You're so quiet…"

"I'm just thinking," I said vaguely, feeling my nausea dissipate slightly as I looked away from the red that surrounded me. The cool, darkness of Ghirahim's eyes was oddly soothing. "Do you think you've won?"

"Won?" Ghirahim raised a pale eyebrow. "In what?"

"In…just-well, _this."_

He shook his head. "It depends on what you define 'winning' as. And you?"

"No…Unless you count my still being alive as a victory. Then I guess so, in some respects."

The other just smirked. "You're rather morose, aren't you?"

"And?"

"And nothing…" Ghirahim looked back at the hypnotizing red waves. He didn't make eye contact as the next words passed his lips. "Sky child?"

I ignored the nickname, but answered even so. "What?"

"I've realized something about you."

"What is it?"

"You're too…charitable." Ghirahim tilted his head slightly to the side, his hair catching the reddish light strangely.

Surreal.

"You're too quick to aid others."

I blinked, "How's that a bad thing?"

He shook his head, lips curving upwards in amusement. At the same time, I could see a glint of curiosity in his visible eye. "Not bad, necessarily. Its flaw is in that you spend copious amounts of time looking out for the wellbeing of others, whilst neglecting yourself."

"So you're saying I should be more selfish."

I scowled and started to move away from him, but he caught my wrist easily with a soft laugh. "That's one way to put it, but it's not exactly what I had in mind. You don't even seem to care if you die-just as long as you can save others in the process-"

"I do care if I die!" I retorted, interrupting him. The last part of his sentence made me falter. "…But saving Zelda is important, so if I had to die to save her, I would have no choice. It's the-"

"Right thing to do…" Ghirahim completed my sentence, taking on a bored tone. "Is it? You might be 'heroic', but still undeniably foolish. More than that, I find your concept of dying for another to be somewhat arrogant."

I flinched, but kept quiet. As if he could understand.

"You seem to believe that your life is worth more than others' lives-that by dying, it will save everyone; that your life is worth all of their lives combined."

This time, I couldn't repress it, "No, that's not it."

Ghirahim ignored my response, "I suppose it _is _true, though; your life being more valuable. See, you were chosen by Hylia to defeat my master…and myself. It wasn't anyone else; it was you. That's what makes you different. Special. I suppose that's partly why I keep returning to you. That, and the fate that binds us." My eyes widened subtly at the reiteration. "Besides, you _are_ the hero after all; you're doing what heroes are meant to do. Whether it is arrogance or just…" He scoffed, taking on an ironic tone, "heroism…"

He broke off, shook his head, and started a new thought, "…I find there's something empowering about owning _the hero_, don't you agree?"

I shuddered and, again, began to move away, but I stopped when I realized I was being kept back. My eyes darted down to find a hand gripping another's wrist.

_My _hand holding _Ghirahim's _wrist.

That couldn't be right…

I could feel Ghirahim's gaze, and I let go of his wrist as if I'd been shocked.

"Sky child," I looked up at the demon lord, mentally hitting myself for reacting to the name, "Do you _want _to suffer?"

"Of course not!" I took a step back.

Ghirahim laughed airily, "Then perhaps you'd rather the spirit maiden be in your place?"

"_No_. I won't let you hurt her."

The demon smirked, expression boasting satisfaction. "Then…" He gestured for me to come closer with one hand, and unthinkingly, I did.

I barely registered seeing Ghirahim's cruel smile before there was nothing but sudden-utterly unexpected-pain, a physical pain that felt undeniably and horribly real. The terrible sensation took a moment to sink in, but when it did, a strangled cry that I didn't recognize as my own ripped through my throat.

Blood thrummed loudly and deafeningly in my ears, and my nerves buzzed with shock, but all I was really aware of was excruciating pain. Agony.

I glanced down through a haze of red and could see a dark rapier plunged deep into my chest, dark blossoms of crimson staining the fabric.

There was so much blood.

In a spit second, more agony ripped through my chest as Ghirahim twisted the blade, forcing it to jaggedly slice deeper into the now gory, bloody flesh, up, towards my heart.

And it hurt.

_It hurt so much._

Ghirahim pressed his lips against mine sadistically as white sparks of pain burst before my eyes.

/

I jolted awake suddenly, a startled gasp escaping my lips as my eyes half opened. All I saw was blackness, as if I was still seeing the world from behind my eyelids. My breathing was ragged, my heart beating frantically in my chest. I took a few moments to catch my breath from what I now acknowledged as a horribly realistic dream.

"No..." I said to myself quietly, almost subconsciously. "He wouldn't..."

"Wouldn't what?"

Ghirahim's voice surprised me. I hadn't even known he was here until now. I scrabbled against the ground, trying to sit up. I'd been lying in the fetus position, my face pressed to the ground and one arm under my side, the other pulled awkwardly behind me. I heard the clang of chains against the ground, felt my wrists being pulled slightly back when I finally got myself kneeling.

Was I…handcuffed?

_Why?_

What was going on?

"Wouldn't what, sky child?" He asked again, voice closer now.

I tried to look around, but everything stayed dark, and my whole body felt numb. The air was hot and dry. "Where am I? What happened?" I demanded, trying to hide my panic with irritation.

Ghirahim's voice came from even nearer this time and I found myself scared at how sight seemed to be evading me. "_Wouldn't what?_"

"Fine," I snapped. "But I don't remember what I was going to say anyway." I tried not to let my fear seep to the surface. What had happened? I was fighting Ghirahim…then…what? I dreamt. But why was I sleeping in the first place?!

I heard Ghirahim sigh. "Fine." He replied like I had, but without the edginess. "And you should know where you are. I haven't moved you since you fell unconscious, sky child."

It all clicked into place. He had restricted my breathing just until I fell unconscious, and then chained my wrists together behind my back. Frustration made me clench my hands into fists within the restraints. "What do you want? And why can't I see anything?"

"It's called a blindfold, hero," he said sarcastically, momentarily dropping all pretenses of grace and ignoring the first question.

I seethed and tried to get to my feet, but abruptly sat back down when common sense told me that getting angry wouldn't accomplish anything, especially if I couldn't even see.

"You seem awfully submissive all of a sudden," he commented when I suddenly ceased all efforts to stand, "And before you went out, you couldn't wait to kill me. But now…" He paused, then, "Why?"

"…Earlier, I had a chance. Now-just, I mean, how the hell do you expect me to kill you like this?"

"I suppose you're right." His breath ghosted over my neck unexpectedly. He was closer-_much_ closer-than I thought.

"Don't you have other things to do besides wasting time here? I thought you said you had a full schedule or something."

"I've had to alter my plans somewhat further due to your constant interference…" he replied rather vaguely.

"Anyway, how long was I out?" I scoffed. I tugged bitterly on the restraints that kept my wrists behind me, chafing the skin uncomfortably through my gauntlets as I was suddenly yanked backwards by the chain pulling taut. So I wasn't just handcuffed. I was chained to the ground.

The movement caused the cut my side to sting more insistently. I grimaced instead.

I briefly wished he had healed me, like he had once before, then rejected the thought. I didn't want help from him.

"You've been 'out' for hardly more than a few hours after our little skirmish."

A few hours…

I held back an exasperated sigh. "What do you want already?"

Ghirahim didn't answer right away and the blindfold prevented me from seeing his expression. I turned my head to the side, away from the direction of his voice. How long did he plan on keeping me here? If I'd only been out for a few hours, it meant that it was probably nearing evening. I had been in the Earth Temple all day…

Everything had been going pretty well before all this-as well as it could have gone. Until he decided to suffocate me.

Still, with Ghirahim, there was no more 'fair' and 'unfair'. Now, the concept was void; why should Ghirahim care whether something is 'fair' or not? If I hadn't underestimated him, I wouldn't be in this situation.

"_What do I want?"_ Pulling me from my thoughts, Ghirahim spoke again, lips brushing against the skin at the junction of my shoulder and neck. I jolted at the contact, but nodded just fractionally.

I felt him smirk, his words making me feel cold.

"I want you to betray her."


End file.
